Soul Eater: Troubled Souls
by CertainDestiny
Summary: The vendetta of two individuals soon expands to involve everyone around them. Slowly, the pieces of the past, present, and future come together and unravel a dastardly plot centered upon death, vengeance, and family. It is the job of new and old friends to get stronger and grow closer as the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance. Contains OC, violence, and strong language.
1. Chapter 1

**Author** **Notes**

Welcome to my newest story: _Soul Eater: Troubled Souls_. I thank you for taking the time to read this story. Now, I will admit right now, this is my first-ever Soul Eater story. I would appreciate it if the veterans would direct and give me constructive criticism as things progress. My next warning is that this story contains the use of OCs on both the good side and the bad side. I'm not sure if that's going to steer away from some readers, but we shall see. Third warning: the timeline of this story is an uncertainty at this point; this story will incorporate elements seen at differing times in both the manga and the anime. So I ask viewers to keep an open mind, worry not about the inconsistencies present, and derive enjoyment in what the story offers.

Also, I'd like to give a shoutout to HopeDiamond101 of DeviantArt who is not only helping me craft this story but also for providing characters for it.

Disclaimer: Soul Eater is copyrighted to Atsushi Okubo and all other third parties (characters, series, and concepts). As of this chapter, material owned by me is Caius Vlandingham; and HopeDiamond101 of DeviantArt owns Claudia Moncharmin.

**A New Day is Dawning: Different Sides of the Same Coin**

_Month 1, Week 1, Day 1_

Seven PM in Death City. The streets were quiet to the point a needle could be heard dropping. The moon had ceased its snickering, and the streetlights were on. A few stars dotted the black and purple night skies. This was a typical evening in Death City. Rarely, normal activity was conducted at these hours.

Rarely, however, being the keyword. Walking down one of the calm streets of Death City was an innocent family of three—a husband, wife, and young child, all whom were not at all perturbed by the disquietude lingering the streets of Death City.

"Hey, mommy?" the child piped up inquisitively, turning to gaze at his mother with wide blue eyes, "Can we see auntie and uncle again later this week?"

The mother looked down at her son and smiled, "Well," she replied, "if your father is fine with that, then sure." She looked at the man beside her, and he nodded his approval, meaning that the boy would have his wish. The child beamed as a wide smile appeared on his youthful features, anticipating another great visit just like tonight.

The family was so elated that, when they passed an alley, they did not take notice of the pair of gleaming, red eyes peering at them in the darkness. "I hunger for souls…" a deep, otherworldly voice rasped bloodthirstily. The being inched out of the shadows. Its red eyes rested on a metallic mask stretching from an ecru scorpion body, dragging its metallic stringer across the ground and keeping its sight set on its target.

A representative of the dangers of walking around Death City at night, an evil creature, a Kishin Egg monster. One of the many reasons why civilians stayed indoors during the late hours. These atrocious monsters victimized innocent people for the sake of consuming their souls to reach unimaginable power. And, as it seemed, the family was going to become one of the many unfortunate victims in these relentless monstrosities'' pursuit for power.

"I want…your souls…!"

The deep and menacing voice was very close. The family turned around in fear, seeing at the fearsome face of the monster and its stinger aimed directly at the three of them. The family all released horrified screams as the stringer prepared to descend.

CLANG!

Time seemed to stop when that small but loud metallic noise invaded the scene of potential murder. A single rock clattered against the ground directly below the monster's face, ceasing both the screaming and stringer's advancing. The monster slowly looked down at the rock. The mere fact that someone threw that at its face was extremely demeaning. Someone dared to threaten it with such a meager object. A small snarl escaped it, representing its frustration.

"Hey, you. The loser that goes by the name of Scorpio."

Scorpio looked over to side—the family took this opportunity to grab their child and run away at high speeds—toward the staircase to its left. It was two figures, illuminated by the streetlight beside them. One was tossing two stones up and down in his hand, leaning against the rail, while the other stood straight up.

"The soul of that monster, Claudia," the one who leaned against rail said observantly, "it's rife with evilness. It has been corrupted, hunting human souls to savor its devilish tastes. It's on the verge of becoming a Kishin." This person was a tall, lanky individual sporting light bronze skin and relatively thick, Air Force blue hair that extended past chin-length. His pupil-less, dark white eyes—shielded by thin, rectangular-framed glasses—were transfixed into a spiteful glare sent toward Scorpio.

He removed himself from the rail, causing the cloak-like end of his long, sleeveless, black coat to billow slightly, "We must exterminate it." He crushed the stone, allowing the sediment to slip from the openings of his white gloved hands. Now that he was standing up like his accompaniment, the rest of his attire and accessories were discernible. His coat was fastened by five strap-buckles, the final two undone to produce the aforementioned cloak-like end. Underneath the coat was a navy, long-sleeved top-shirt with a white undershirt and navy tie. The sleeves of the top-shirt were torn and ragged where they met his bandaged arm-warmers, which also had several navy arm-belts on them. His navy slacks were also torn and ragged at the ends where they met the bandaged gaiters of black boots with white buckles. The bandaged gaiters also had small belts wrapped around them.

"Yes, indeed, Caius. We must kill it and collect its soul." The Caucasian girl standing parallel to him responded, her teal eyes glaring down at the Kishin Egg monster in disgust. The light of the street pole reflected off her a baby blue diamond in the middle of a big, pink bow on the top of her head and her baby blue diamond earrings.

She was short and youthful, almost resembling a little child with her 4'7" height, when standing beside her partner. Her long, blonde, curly hair was pinned up in the back by a Lord Death-style hair pin in a reminiscent French style as some of her beautiful curls hang down while the remainders drooped down the left side of her face.

Her elaborate and aristocratic attire consisted of a white dress shirt style bodice with a button down front, turn down collar, and long sleeves with beautiful, lace, trimmed cuffs. A neckline of complementary design added interest to the bodice. On her feet were ballet-like slippers with ribbons going up her shins and ending in bows tied to the side. The pink skirt is styled in a flattering high-waist style and features many rows of ruffled trim at the base, which is also covering her white stockings underneath. A cute bow adorned the hip of the skirt and adds a nice touch. The back created the interesting effect of a skirt and shirt combo.

Scorpio snarled, raising its razor-sharp, glinting claws as it peered at the duo. "Come all this way, this late at night, to die I see…" Without warning, the monster dashed for them, "Fine by me!"

"Let's make this quick." Caius said, extending his arm in preparation.

"Indeed." Claudia agreed. Immediately afterwards, her entire body dematerialized in glowing light, becoming nothing more than a formless, white mass. Then, the mass swirled in place as it inched closer to Caius's extended arm. The mass began to lengthen, still spinning in place as Scorpio took a great leap.

"Are you ready, Claudia Moncharmin?" Caius asked determinedly, grabbing the spinning bar of light. When he did, the rotations ceased as the light shattered to pieces. In its wake was a long, beautiful white lance with gold trimming and designs and with a huge, long, sharp blade at the end. It gleamed, revealing Claudia's face as she replied, "I am ready, Caius Vlandingham."

Scorpio finally reached Caius and shot its tail at him. However, the blue-haired meister was able to block it with the lance. "Scorpio," he spoke, "as a student and representative of the DWMA…" Caius then glared authoritatively at the monster, "I _will_ defeat you, and your soul _will_ become ours!"

Roaring in response, Scorpio swished its claws at Caius, trying to bifurcate him. However, Caius pushed off Scorpio's tail and acrobatically backflipped out of the way to avoid the attempt. Digging his feet into the ground as he skidded back, Caius subsequently launched himself toward Scorpio, swinging the lance and slicing off Scorpio's tail.

As blood spilled from the point of dismemberment, Scorpio unleashed an unholy roar of pain as it scurried away from Caius in order to create distance. "What the matter?! No time for games?!" Caius taunted as he charged at the monster. Snarling in frustration, Scorpio roared as it jumped up. Caius jumped up as well in response. At the same time, they swung respectively his claws and lance, the clash locking them in place in the air as sparks shot out from the impact.

"You, my fiendish friend…" Suddenly, Caius pushed off Scorpio, surprising the monster and sending himself into a nearby light pole and planted his feet onto it. Immediately afterwards, he shot himself off of it, "make our thirty-first soul!" He shouted, savagely impaling Scorpio with the blade of the lance.

Scorpio released a deafening scream of death, but it soon ceased when Caius aggressively rips the lance out. The bespectacled meister landed on the ground, resting the lance on his shoulders and adjusting as he watched Scorpio land on the ground in front of him hard. Scorpio's body soon disintegrated into darkness until nothing but a red soul was left in its wake.

Caius smiled as he held out the lance toward the red, floating soul. "Eat up, Claudia. Our thirty-first soul." He declared proudly.

Claudia's upper body appeared out of the glowing upper half of the lance, reaching out and taking the Kishin Egg Soul into her delicate fingers. " Caius, did you bring the lemon?" she asked, staring directly into the red soul, "You know I can't eat it without a pinch of lemon to give it a nice flavor."

"I certainly did." Caius reached into his coat and withdrew a bag that possessed a single lemon wedge inside it. He took the lemon wedge out, grasping it between two fingers, and extended it to her, "Here."

Claudia accepted the lemon with her free hand. "Thank you," she replied gratefully. She squeezed the lemon onto the Kishin Egg Soul, causing the yellow fruit to release its liquid contents onto the red object. She tossed away the wedge and proceed to swallow the soul whole, taking out a handkerchief to pat her mouth. "Mmm! That one was delicious!" She announced contently.

"And that means sixty-eight more souls plus a witch's soul to go," the Air Force blue-haired teen announced, "At this rate, I'll turn you into a Death Scythe faster than anyone else in my class ." He once again adjusted his glasses and yawned a little, showing that he was somewhat tired, "Let's go report to Lord Death of our success and head home. We still have to get to school in the morning."

The lower half of Claudia's body, which was still morphed into a lance, glowed as it released itself from Caius's grasp. The blond girl turned back to normal as she said fanatically, "Oh yes! I just can't wait. For I, Claudia Moncharmin, will be one of Lord Death's weapon! I can't wait for that day!" She could see it now; the legendary God of Order wielding her lance form in the same manner and style as it wielded his current Death Scythe. For a Demon Weapon, that was the highest honor one could receive. She clasped her hands together and looked at Caius, "While you call Lord Death, I will notify Watson to pick us up." Midway through her statement, she took out her cell phone.

Caius nodded and went to go find a nearby window. When he did, the lance meister exhaled upon it to make the surface foggy and began to write on it with his finger. "Dial 42-42-564 if you want to knock on Death's door." He mumbled the mantra. Once he finished writing, the window glowed.

Soon enough, a tall figure appeared on the screen wearing black and sporting a rather cartoonish white skull mask. "Ah, Caius! What's up? How did it go?" The entity asked, cocking his head to the side.

Caius bowed respectfully before addressing him, "Evening, Lord Death. We have successfully captured the soul of the monster, Scorpio."

Lord Death bounce happily as he replied, "Ahhh, excellent! Excellent! So you two now have thirty-one Kishin Egg souls. That leads you to sixty-eight souls to go plus a witch soul. You two are doing just great! I will have more missions for you tomorrow so rest up and be prepared."

Like a military officer, Caius's pose straightened upon the reception of his orders. "Yes, sir! We will see you at the Academy tomorrow!"

"Alrighty then!" Lord Death exclaim happily, his big white hand popping out from his body as he held up a peace sign, "Take care, you two!" The screen shut off as the window turned back to normal, signaling the termination of transmission.

At that moment, a gold and red Elizabethan style carriage rolled up behind the weapon and meister duo. Claudia walked up beside Caius and announced happily, "Oh! There is Watson. We better head off, darling~"

"Alright, let's go." Caius said as he headed inside the carriage, situating himself at one end of the comfortable red seats. Claudia also went in, sitting beside her meister, as she spoke to the driver, "Home we go, Watson!"

The gray-haired, middle-age man in the driver seat looked at the two via the rearview mirror and nodded, "Yes, Madam Claudia." The carriage jerked slightly, signaling that it was now running. "So how was hunt?" Watson inquired.

Claudia was more than happy to give him the details, "It went splendid! We now have thirty-one souls."

Watson nodded, "Excellent." Remembering something, the family servant then told the young girl, " Oh, by the way, Miss Claudia, Mr. and Mrs. Moncharmin will not be home tonight."

Claudia's expression became distressed, "W-what?! Why not?!"

"Something had came up and they have to investigate further. So their trip home has been delayed and their work has extended," Watson explained. He noticed the blond girl's downcast expression and apologized sincerely, "I am sorry, madam."

"No…" Claudia's head lowered, "No, it's alright. I understand."

Caius had quietly listened to the short exchange. He propped his leg up on the seat as he gazed out the window next to him. "Your parents seem to be hard at work."

Claudia immediately straightened her posture, " Of course, Caius. They must work hard in order to make sure that nothing bad happens when involving Evil Humans or Kishin Egg spawns. As retired meister and demon weapon, they have a serious job." Claudia was always proud to announce why her parents were so busy; it acted as a source of inspiration to her.

"Well, that's good. They're doing excellently, it seems." Caius tried to muster a smile at her; however, something began bothering him in the deep recesses of his mind when the subject of parents, and by extension family, cropped up.

_"The next time we meet, let your gaze look like mine. Until then, live in fear with the possibility that everyone you know and love might die, just like your family."_

This sinister and quiet voice haunted him ever since his orphan status was ever so graciously bestowed upon him by the owner. It represented his deep conflictions and, more importantly, his unquenchable sadness. Quickly, to prevent sure his lamentable expression, he looked out the window again. "Of course, it's always the daughter's job to surpass them." He said wisely, his voice dropping an octave.

"Well, of course!" Claudia said in a chipper voice. She obviously did not recognize the change in Caius's mood and tone, "I am a Moncharmin, after all. I must be the best! But with your help, of course, we will be the best team in the academy!" A sort of scowl then graced her features, "Better than that stupid girl, Maka." Her scowl disappeared when she sighed, "I feel so sorry for Soul. He's just...too cool for her!" She blushed, thinking about the albino-haired Demon Scythe, who probably was the most determined Demon Weapon in terms of becoming a Death Scythe. That was one of his characteristics that endeared her. "Oh Soul, if I were a monster, I would gladly let you at my soul so we can become one~" She sung melodiously.

Caius sweatdropped as Claudia continued fawning over the Demon Scythe, "Er… right…" He looked out the window once again, noting that they were close to the Moncharmin Mansion. Truthfully, he wanted to contribute to the conversation but did not have the knowledge to do so, _" Well, I can't say anything because I hardly know anyone in the Academy."_

Caius closed his dark white eyes and thought depressingly, _"None of them are my friends...just classmates and... acquaintances... "_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Soul Eater is copyrighted to Atsushi Okubo and all other third parties (characters, series, and concepts). As of this chapter, material owned by me is Caius Vlandingham and the Gemini; and HopeDiamond101 of DeviantArt owns Claudia Moncharmin.

**A Lesson in Synchronization: The Brother and Sister of the Gemini**

_Month 1, Week 1, Day 2_

_Ding. Dong. Dong. Ding._

It was the typical morning at Death Weapon Meister Academy. The immense school was bustling in people of all ages, all working in conjunction with the will of the God of Order himself, Lord Death.

Among the vast amount of students was Caius and Claudia. The two were currently walking down a hallway, approaching the bulletin board that held every available mission for active students.

"Alright, let's check out what we can do then head off to class." Caius stated as they stopped in front of the large bulletin board. Since they were on school grounds and preparing for class, he replaced his coat and navy topshirt with a simple navy vest.

"Alright. Let's see…" Before she actually had a chance to view the contents of the bulletin board, Claudia was suddenly pushed to the side, "HEY!"

"Stand back! For I am the great assassin Blackstar!" The boastfulness and arrogance radiating from the loud voice the school's resident assassin could move its very walls. Blackstar stood with a large grin stretches across his features as one of his arms was outstretched, having pushed Claudia aside so that he could see the bulletin board himself.

Claudia glared Blackstar and said vehemently, "HEY! I was standing here, you jerk!"

The blue-haired boy looked down at the short blonde with his grin still plastered on his face, placing his fists on his hips, "Whoops. Didn't see ya! I was too busy being awesome!" This rather inconsiderate statement elicited a growl from the Moncharmin girl.

Caius, meanwhile, frowned and shook his head, thinking disapprovingly, _"Such unruly manners…"_ Gazing away from the two, the white-eyed meister saw someone running up. She was female—he could tell solely from her soft features and hair length—about a year older than himself.

"B-BlackStar! Be careful! You could've hurt someone!" the black-haired woman admonished, coming up behind them.

"Oh, you worry too much, Tsubaki!" Blackstar responded to his partner dismissively, crossing his arms.

"Tsubaki is right!" Claudia was more than ready to chastise the 'Great Assassin' for his behavior, "You need to be careful, Black Star! Otherwise, you will feel my wrath!"

Blackstar looked at Claudia upon her declaration and laughed mockingly, "Oh really? And what are you gonna do, shorty?"

"How _dare_ you!" Claudia shouted, deeply offended by Blackstar's affront, Do you know _who_ I am?! I am Claudia Moncharmin! The daughter of Claude and Diana Moncharmin, who happens to be graduates of the DWMA and one of the best Meister and Death Weapon duo of France! Mess with me and you'll be sorry!"

To show how much he really care about her rant, Blackstar began picking his nose and almost entirely ignoring her, "Uh-huh. Sure."

Seeing his indecent action, Claudia grimaced in disgust, "EW! You are so disgusting!"

Tsubaki could not help but feel somber, her expression becoming downcast witnessing the two quarrel, "Oh, dear…"

Caius sensed the negativity between Blackstar and Claudia and the sadness from Tsubaki. This prompted him to speak up firmly, "Calm down, you two. We're here for a reason, so let's not tarnish it."

Claudia, still miffed at Blackstar's insufferable behavior and actions, huffed and looked away. The blue-haired assassin looked quizzically at the guy, not recognizing him at all, "Eh? And who are you?"

Before Caius had the opportunity to introduce himself, his Demon Lance partner impulsively stepped in, "You idiot! This is my Meister partner, Caius Vlandingham! Learn our names, for we will become an elite team, and I will become one of Lord Death's special weapons!"

Blackstar looked down at the blond weapon and almost wanted to laugh at the audacity of her boastful declaration. He grinned challengingly, "Oh yeah? Not if Tsubaki and I have anything to say about it."

Claudia huffed, "Please don't because your breath stinks." She insulted him.

Caius sighed silently but exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose as a sign of his frustration. Tsubaki saw the gesture and felt somewhat responsible for Blackstar's behavior. She addressed him gently, "I'm sorry about Blacktstar. Really, he's a nice guy inside."

Caius looked at the black-haired weapon and replied, "It's no big deal. I apologize on Claudia's behalf as well." Based on the words shared between their partners, the Air Force blue-haired meister figured out who he was talking to, "I assume you're Tsubaki, right?" When she smiled and nodded, Caius smiled back, "Nice to meet you."

Claudia huffed once again and looked back to the bulletin board in hopes of finding a worthy mission. She allowed one last affront to split out of her mind, _"I hope you lose all of your Kishin Egg Souls, you jerk."_

Blackstar turned to the board and spoke, "Anyway, let's—" Conveniently after Claudia finished her thought, the blue-haired assassin sneezed. But he had turned to the side and accidently sneezed on her. "Ah man. What was that?" he sniffed, rubbing the openings with his finger.

Claudia frozen for a second before screaming and jumping around hysterically, "EW EW EW EW EW EW! HE SNEEZED ON ME! AHHH!" The Demon Lance proceeded to sprint down the hallway a high speeds, making a mad break for the girl's bathroom.

Blackstar, oblivious as always, simply looked on as the blonde girl run off, "…Jeez, what's her deal?"

Tsubaki covered her mouth with a look of empathy on her face, "Poor Claudia…" Caius only sighed and shook his head, hating how today was already progressing. Tsubaki looked at Caius when he sighed and offered her help, "Would you like me to go check up on her?"

Caius looked at her and shook his head, "No, it's fine. I'm used to doing that myself."

"O-Okay." Tsubaki said timidly as Caius walked off in pursuit of his partner.

Meanwhile, a pair at the middle of the other hallway, seeing and hearing the commotion near the bulletin board. The white-haired, red-eye one sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Oh great. Someone's already freaking out and first period hasn't even started yet."

His ashy blonde companion was equally perplexed, "…I wonder what was that all about, Soul."

Soul only shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows, Maka?"

Maka looked on ahead and stated, "Well, we better hurry to class, Soul." The white-haired Demon Scythe nodded and followed his meister to where their first period class would be held.

Meanwhile, Caius was positioned outside the girl's bathroom, waiting for Claudia to finally get over what happened. "Come on, Claudia! Hurry up or we'll be late for first period! I don't want my perfect attendance to be broken!" he yelled loud enough so she could hear inside the lavatory.

Inside, the blond Demon Lance was busy scrubbing her face furiously, trying to eradicate every trace of Blackstar's germs off of her. "HEY!" she protested in response, "You weren't sneezed on! Who knows, I might have caught the idiot syndrome!"

Caius stared blankly at the door, listening to his hysteric partner, "...Do you listen to yourself talk sometimes?" He asked, truly wanting an honest answer.

Claudia at long last emerged from the bathroom, placing her arm over her head in a dramatic pose. "Oh! I feel so weary!" she spoke in a theatrical manner, grabbing Caius's hand and placing it on her forehead, "Do I have a fever? Are my eyes red? Oh my goodness, what is my name? I CAN'T REMEMBER MY NAME!"

Caius just stared at his melodramatic partner and hung his head low, unable to really do anything without his sanity and maturity being at risk. "You are piece of work…" He sighed heavily.

Claudia then snapped out of her, for lack of a better word, stupor, "Oh! Class is about to start! Let us go!"

Before they would be tardy, the blond weapon run off with her meister partner pursuing her.

* * *

The Crescent Moon Class in the Academy was as busy as ever. Various students from all over and of all kinds were preparing themselves for today's lecture. Maka was taking out her books, paper, and pencils. Soul and Blackstar were sitting in their seat with their feet propped up and arms behind their heads. Death the Kid was adjusting his utensils and everything so that they had vertical symmetry. Patty was coloring in her coloring book. Liz was laid back in her seat polishing her nails. Everyone else was doing something similar or something completely different, such as sleeping to past the time, waiting for their teacher to arrive.

Caius and Claudia were among the last to arrive in the Crescent Moon Class, but they were still on time. "Caius, did you remember to bring my books and things?" She asked her meister, carrying absolutely nothing but her own body weight.

Caius shifted a large backpack hanging over his right shoulder, gesturing to it. "Yours and mine." He answered. Claudia nodded eagerly as she and Caius went to go sit in their seats. The bespectacled meister noticed the teacher was not present and commented, "Professor Stein is as late as usual."

Soul, at the same time, noticed his anomaly as well. He looked at the entrance to the classroom and thought hopefully, _"Maybe he's not going to…"_

At that very moment, Professor Franken Stein suddenly zoomed into the classroom, sitting backwards in his trademark caster-wheel chair and positioning himself behind his desk. "Good morning, class." The legendary meister addressed his students, gazing at them expectantly.

"Good morning, Professor Stein!"

Stein reached up to turn his bolt counterclockwise a few times before announcing, "Alright, now pay attention. This subject might be difficult to grasp." In preparation, Caius, Claudia, Maka, and Tsubaki took out their notebooks and writing utensils to take notes with. Kid decided to listen carefully. Others like Liz, Patty, Soul, and Blackstar were not paying attention. "We will be talking about the Demon Tools. Demon Tools are magical artifacts capable of achieving the normally impossible by any scientific means. They are truly amazing; one day I hope the DWMA can get its hands on one for analysis."

Soul refrained from snorting, knowing full well how Stein would get when presented something of interest.

"Despite their power, Demon Tools are deceptively simple and compact in appearance. The objects they're based on, such as keys, gears, padlocks etc. are rather simple and achieve only one function. Despite this, they do have rather peculiar appearances, not usually found in the objects they are based on. Some Tools have insignias on them, showing who it is made by. As such, it is sometimes easy to miss them, hence why people all around the world have to get their hands on one of these mythical items."

Stein paused to survey his class and saw that Claudia had her hand raised, "Yes?"

"Professor," she began, "These Demon Tools. Are they made by witches? Monsters? And why do such things even exist?"

Stein answered the question to the best of his ability, "Well, nobody really knows who created the Demon Tools. That is why they are such a mystery. As for their existence, that is a mystery, too. But I will say this: think of their existence as a natural thing. Like oxygen, we don't question why it exists because it is so helpful. Demon Tools have the same principles. That's why everyone wants to find one."

Still curious, Claudia asked another question, "Will these Demon Tools help one to become a powerful weapon? I mean...what if a person finds one? Will it give extraordinary powers?"

The silver-gray haired teacher was actually happy someone asked such a question. It was one of the more interesting characteristics of a Demon Tool that he read in the report. "Yes, actually. Demon Tools fulfill mostly the supplementary roles of the object it is based on, only to a much larger scale. So, theoretically, you have a Demon Tool based off a key, you might have a key that opens all locks."

The majority of the classroom gained an awed or intrigued expression on their faces. No wonder these mysterious Demon Tools were so sought-after.

_"A key that opens all locks."_ Maka thought, imagining the possibilities.

_"If that's the case, I should go find one to help Tsubaki to become a better Death Weapon. And I can be more powerful than god!"_ Black thought boisterously.

_"Hmm. Interesting."_ Kid thought, crossing his arms. To think, an object of yore like that even existed today.

A few of the other students, such as Caius or Ox Ford, were not interested in pursuing such power. When Stein noticed students had no more comments and questions, he considered moving on but asked anyway, "So, any more questions or concerns before I move on?"

Maka raised her hand.

"Yes, Maka?"

"Would it be possible that witches may have these artifacts?" The ashy blonde meister asked.

Stein had to think before giving a plausible answer, "It's a possibility. No one really knows the exact locations of the Demon Tools as of recent."

"Hn." Maka wrote down the answer to her question in her notes. The class had noticeably quiet down either taking notes silently, like Maka, Ox, Tsubaki, Claudia, or Caius, and doing something else not related to the class, such as Liz checking her nails or Patty coloring a unicorn.

"Any more?" Stein inquired, eyeing around.

"I have a question, Professor," Kid spoke up, "Who created these Demon Tools, and what would the Academy do with one of them should we get our hands on one of them?"

"Who created the Demon Tools is unknown. Only research could say. But, if the DWMA were to get one, we may use them to facilitate our missions. The more destructive or malignant ones, we may destroy or seal away so no evil can get them," Professor Stein shrugged his shoulders casually, "Of course, that's what I would think Lord Death would have us do. Could change anytime."

Kid slumped in his seat, somewhat dissatisfied with the answer, "I see…"

Claudia just then had a thought, so she decided to supplement the current discussion, "Oh! Perhaps the creator is a demon themselves? Maybe someone powerful that Lord Death knows?"

"Possibly so. But, of course, asking Lord Death himself won't do us any good. He won't give us a straight answer." Stein answered.

Kid mentally sighed, knowing that statement couldn't be any closer to the truth, _" That's for sure. Father knows how to dodge questions like that..."_

"Maybe we can beat it out of him!" Blackstar suggested loudly and energetically, holding up a clenched fist and grinning his trademark grin.

"Blackstar…" Tsubaki said softly in exasperation.

"Oh sure! Let me know how much your hospital bill is afterwards, Black Star!" Stein said jokingly. The class laughed at that, and Blackstar huffed in annoyance. Tsubaki sighed; she and everyone else knew a foolhardy statement like that could not be taken seriously.

"Well, I suppose that's all I can say about Demon Tools. So, take the rest of class to look over what we talked about in the past sessions. We will have cumulative test in about two weeks." Stein announced.

_" In two weeks? Better start studying now."_ Caius thought. From experience, waiting until the last few days yielded difficulty on the test, so studying now while the time was still plentiful was the best route.

The announcement caught class's attention. Any student on the face of earth could dread an upcoming test due to the massive impact it had on their grades. However, those that weren't great test takers were especially wary.

Liz blinked after registering the announcement of the test, "Say wha? A test? Oh great." She was one of those students were religiously performed subpar on tests. Her sister, flighty as always, was just humming to herself, not even aware of what was just said.

"At least we have two weeks. Last time he only gave us three days." Kid spoke in response to his partner, recalling the mass of failing grades that a good percent of the class achieved.

"A cumulative test?" Claudia looked at her meister and suggested, "Looks like we have some studying to do."

Caius nodded, "Already got a plan. I'm aiming for the top score, and I hope you are too."

Maka had the same idea as Caius: study as soon as she could in order to merit the best possible results in two weeks. _"I better start studying so I can surpass...him."_ Maka glanced over to Ox Ford, who was conversing his weapon partner, Harvar. As far as she knew, Ox was the only student in her class with grades comparable to her and was his main obstacle in trying to be at the top of her class. Out of the corner of her green eyes, she noticed Caius sitting by and talking to Claudia, and her gaze become curious, _"...That guy, he must be Claudia's partner. However, I don't see him much around other than classes. I wonder why?"_

_Ding. Dong. Dong. Ding._

"Have a nice day, class. Don't forget to study and do just as well in your other classes." Stein said encouragingly as many of his students stood from their seats and began to leave.

Maka gathered her belongings and stood up, addressing her weapon partner, "Okay, Soul. Wanna be my study partner?"

Soul shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly, "Not much of a choice I got, is there?"

Maka eyed him as she asked critically, "You wanna do well on the test, don't you?"

Soul thought about it. He needed to do significantly better since he performed dismally on the last couple of tests, "Well, you got a point."

Maka nodded and smiled, "Then it's settled! We study tonight."

To be honest, the albino-haired Demon Scythe was not in the mood to raptly study for a test two weeks ago. Thinking quickly, he said in response, "You do realize we have two whole weeks to study for it, right? There's no rush, Maka."

The ashy blond meister considered Soul's words. Now that she realized it, unless it was a very major exam, Maka only needed about a few weekdays and a weekend to achieve a perfect score. Sighing in defeat, she stated, "I guess you're right. We can study tomorrow. BUT! You better be prepared, for I will be on you like a hawk." She finished her statement with a careful stare directed towards Soul.

Soul nodded, "If you say so."

"Now let's go check for missions." Maka announced, walking out with a much more eager Soul following behind her. This was around the time Blackstar ran out, shouting that he was going to train intensively as Tsubaki chased him and implored him to consider studying hard for the test instead.

Meanwhile, another pair was establishing their study schedule: Caius and Claudia. The latter spoke up, "Caius. We should plan our calendar carefully. We must choose how much time we should study for the test. I say we study for at least two hours so we don't overwhelm ourselves."

"Sounds good to me," Caius agreed wholeheartedly, "We can divide up the time based on all the stuff Professor Stein covered." When the French girl nodded, the two of stood up and proceeded to walk out, the male yawning and stretching his tired body.

Claudia then remembered something as she followed behind her meister, "Did you find out what our mission is on the board?"

"I did as a matter of fact," Caius answered, "But it seems we'll be having company." Personally, he did not like going on team missions. He preferred simply doing missions on his own. Claudia blinked and titled her head, aware that this mission was the first time they would be partnering with another. Caius took that as a sign of continuing, "…And I don't know who said company will be, to be honest. I hope Lord Death isn't trying to surprise us or something."

"Well that's odd. I just hope it isn't Black Star! Otherwise, I am going to scream!" Claudia said spitefully, her face grimacing at the mere thought.

Caius's eyes lowered as he thought, _" I just hope it's someone we can work with period…even though Claudia and I are better off doing missions alone."_

* * *

"Why, hello! Hello! Thanks for coming in, Caius and Claudia. I hope you have seen the board, for I have a mission for you both."

After Lord Death finished addressing them, Caius bowed respectfully with Claudia mimicking the action, "Yes, sir. We saw the specs. In Madrid, Spain, there's a Gemini monster running amuck, and you want the standard elimination. But you also said Claudia and I will be partnered with another team."

"Oh yes. That is true." Lord Death looked behind the pair and saw two figures approaching, "And here they are."

"Hn?" Claudia and Caius curiously looked over their shoulder to see who they would be partnering with.

Maka Albarn and Soul Eater Evans.

"…WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"Eh?" Lord Death jumped a little, surprised at the sudden exclamations.

Maka and Claudia were glaring and pointing at each other venomously, speaking respectively as they turned to look Lord Death, "YOU EXPECT ME TO WORK WITH THIS BRAT/PEASEANT?!" When they realized they insulted each other, they focused their glares back to one another, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BRAT/PEASEANT?! YOU! WHY YOU!" It was evident that there was some type of bad blood between the two young females.

Soul just stared at the scene with his usual apathetic expression. "Hm. This ought to be interesting." He remarked and then noticed Caius who was just standing there with a thoroughly confused expression. He had never seen this guy before, so he simply had to ask, "And who are you?"

Caius looked over to Soul and nervously replied, "U-Um. I'm Caius…Claudia's partner."

Soul looked shocked, "No way." He wasn't even aware that Claudia had a meister partner.

"With all due respect, Lord Death," Maka complained, "_why_ do we need to work with them?!"

"I agree! Caius and I can take care of the situation ourselves!" Claudia protested but then gave Soul an endearing glance, "No offense to you, darling~"

As Soul jerked his back, sneering, Lord Death spoke up, "Actually, this mission requires a team, and I believe you four can handle it. Besides, this monster is very powerful, judging from the content of its soul. Even if you go alone with your respective partner, you cannot defeat this particular one. So that's why I paired you four up."

Claudia pouted, still not keen to the idea of teaming up with Maka, "But Lord Death!"

The tall, masked man waved his large, white hand dismissively, "Now, now. Don't be that way. I am counting on both teams to do the job, so I suggest you all get along. Okay?"

Dissatisfied, Claudia crossed her arms and pouted. Caius sighed as Maka and Soul maintained neutral expressions. "Well, off to Madrid, I guess."

* * *

Flying high in the sky above the clouds en route to Madrid, Spain was the Moncharmin private jet. The exterior was surprisingly plane, having only two colors: primarily white and a baby blue stripe running across the width of the plane. The aircraft was expeditiously flying, trying to get to the destination as soon as possible so that its passengers could dispatch the threat.

Inside, the passenger area possessed luxurious decoration, having red, ornament carpet and amber, leather seats. Caius and Claudia were sitting across from Soul and Maka in one section of the seating. Even now, the Demon Lance was still pouting childishly at the idea of teaming up with Maka. Caius was avoiding at having to look at the other team he truthfully did not want to team up with either by instead gazing out the window beside him. Soul was napping and snoring noisily, head laid back. Finally, Maka was sitting there quietly, glaring at Claudia.

A female flight attendant walked up the four, addressing Maka first, "Would you like anything, ma'am?"

The scythe meister sighed and looked at her, "Water, please."

The flight attendant nodded and then looked at Caius and Claudia, "And you, Madame Moncharmin? Mr. Vlandingham?"

Claudia, still pouting, answered, "…Apple juice."

"Water." Caius replied, still looking out the window.

The flight attendant nodded and looked at Soul but saw he was asleep. Not wanting to disturb him, she simply walked off, leaving the teenagers alone. Maka looked around, noting the generally extravagant appearance of the interior. This was her first time flying first-class to a mission. Usually, she and Soul would be transported by authorized DWMA vehicle and then get around the mission site using Soul's motorcycle. This was nothing compared to that. She decided to strike up a conversation, seeing as her partner was asleep, "Do you always do this?"

"Of course!" Claudia exclaimed, ceasing her pouting, "Caius and I only deserve the best when going on missions. I'm sure a peasant like you wouldn't understand."

Maka narrowed her eyes, "Well, excuse me for living the lifestyle I have! Besides, this is all excessive anyway."

Claudia flipped her hair haughtily, "Like I said, you wouldn't understand. You've always been jealous of me! That's why you had to push me and ruin my dress; to make yourself feel better!"

Maka growled, recalling that day—it was one of Claudia's first days at the Academy. She slammed her hand on the armrest and retorted, "That's not true! And you know that was an accident! I even tried to help you!"

"Bullcrap!" Claudia spat back, pointing at the ashy blonde accusingly, "I was always prettier and more popular than you! I even have bigger boobs than you!"

Offended, Maka retorted angrily, "They aren't that big!"

Soul stirred in his sleep, being rudely awakened by the commotion happening before him. He lifted up his head, rubbing his aching neck and questioned irritably in a dull tone, "Why are you two so loud? Are we in Madrid yet?"

Now that a male opinion was in the mix, Claudia capitalized on the idea and looked at the white-haired weapon, "Soul! I have bigger boobs than Maka! Be honest!"

Maka glared at her partner from the corner of her green eyes, "Soul, if you answer that, I will punch you."

Soul stammered, overwhelmed by the bombardment of statements from both girls. "Whoa! Hold on a minute!" He pleaded.

Caius actually felt sorry for Soul a bit. In this case, he would have just opted to remain quiet. But, that was the only instance where he paid attention to them. He went back to ignoring everything around him and continued staring mindlessly out of the window, _" I don't even know these people. Then again, that's for the better...This whole thing is just ridiculous."_

"Come on, Soul, they're bigger than Maka's, right?" Claudia crooned, giving her crush puppy dog eyes in an attempt to draw out the answer she desperately wanted.

"Soooooooooooooul." Maka said warningly, still glaring pointedly at the Demon Scythe.

Soul realized he really should have stayed asleep, _"This is so not cool."_

* * *

Downtown Madrid at night was one of the more sumptuous sights a person could see in the entire continent of Europe. It was teeming with people, mostly fascinated tourists, going in and leaving out of the various buildings the city had to offer, all gloriously alit even under the dark night sky.

In the middle of a busy plaza, Maka, Soul, Caius, and Claudia were stationed amid the crowd, discussing their plan of action. " Alright, let's make a plan. We should split up so we can cover much grounds. If anyone finds the target, make a signal so the other can come to their aid." Maka explained.

"Sounds good to me." Soul commented, nodding.

"Right." Caius replied, adjusting his battle coat restlessly as he thought, _"..A gemini monster, huh? A two-in-one. I wonder how that'll play out."_

"If that's the case, then I have these." Claudia retrieved a gun signal from person and handed it to Maka, "We can use this to signal each other."

"Great," Maka took the gun signal and stored it away for future use, "Alright. You two go that way," she pointed eastward and then westward, "and Soul and I will go this way. And remember what Lord Death said, you can't fight it alone. We have to fight it as a team."

Everyone nodded in acknowledgment and proceeded to walk off with their objective in mind. The second each team was gone, they engaged in conversation with their respective partner.

"Think we can trust them?" Soul asked his partner for her opinion, glancing at Maka with his crimson eyes before looking back ahead.

The scythe meister sighed, "I really don't know. I mean, Claudia can be a brat, and I'm really not sure about her partner. I mean, we don 't know what he's like."

Soul replied earnestly, "That is true. Truth be told, I didn't know Claudia _had_ a partner. We never hear about him."

Maka said contemplatively, cupping her chin, "It is strange that we _just_ noticed him. Did she recently meet him or something?"

Soul shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly, "Who knows?" Putting that aside, he said seriously, "Let's hurry and find that monster. What's the first thing you wanna do? You wanna look at some souls first or what?"

Maka nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Let's do that. Come."

As those two walked off, meanwhile, the other team had stationed themselves at a rooftop to get a better view of the surroundings in hopes of finding their target. It was difficult as everything seemed status quo; all the people acted normally, blissfully unaware of the monster hunting for their souls as they had fun. It was almost disheartening.

"A gemini monster…" Caius mumbled contemplatively, the ends of his battle coat billowing slightly in the wind, "Two different entities of the same soul." He crossed his arms and continued looking around.

"And we have to get that soul. That will be our thirty-second soul that we collected." Claudia said supportively, standing by her meister.

Caius's search was inconclusive and decided that simply using his eyes would not get them anyway. "I'm going to try and use Soul Perception to look at some souls. No two souls have the same exact feelings and wavelengths. So, if I can find two souls with the exact emotions, wavelengths, and malice, we have our target."

Claudia looked and smiled, "Do you thing, Caius."

Caius nodded as he held up his hands prayerfully, closed his eyes, and concentrated. "Let's see…" The bespectacled meister activated Soul Perception. When he did, a large number of different souls appeared on radar at the many locations nearby in downtown Madrid. However, he could not perceive the phenomenon he was looking for. "Augh...no good. I don't see anything but regular human souls...All of them different too." He said, displeased.

"Drat!" Claudia grunted in discontent, "Now what should we do?"

"I've no clue…" Caius mattered despondently. Just as he was about to turn off his Soul Perception, two human souls suddenly vanished. "What the?!" he exclaimed, surprised.

Claudia at him, surprised by his outburst, "What's the matter?!"

"Two human souls just disappeared out of nowhere!" Caius informed her, memorizing the locations where the souls disappeared, "Come on! We have to hurry!" Claudia nodded obediently, and the two rushed off with Claudia grabbing Caius's arm as he jumped off the rooftop. Soon enough, the two reached an alleyway some distance away. In the very middle of it was a young man, lying in a pool of fresh blood. His body had been eviscerated only moments ago. Caius slowly approached the corpse and assessed the damages, "His soul has been stolen."

Claudia gasped in horror at the sight of the murdered young man, "...th-that poor boy... Nnngh! We must stop it and quickly. Obviously, this one is very slick!"

Caius placed his hands on his hips as he thought about the situation, " Okay, this is a Gemini, so it's utilizing both parts of it to hunt some souls, hence why _two_ human souls vanished from radar instead of one." He narrowed his eyes in vexation, "But that doesn't explain why I can't detect them even when they're obviously around. How is it hiding its soul?"

"Hmm. This is really strange," Claudia pondered, looking at Caius, "Do you think the monster might be half-human and half-monster? If so, that may make sense as to why you suddenly sensed two human souls disappeared and not it."

Caius nodded, accepting that as a possibility, "Maybe...Well, I suppose I need to use Soul Perception again and see if any more human souls disappear. If I do see some vanish, we _must_ move quickly to the spot before the perpetrator leaves that area." After seeing her nod understandingly, Caius reactivated his Soul Perception and focused, keeping a close eye on everything around him. Just then, two more human souls disappeared from radar, and one of the spots was conveniently located near him.

Without warning, Caius grabbed Claudia, "Come on!" Her eyes widened as she was suddenly dragged along by her meister. Caius then proceeded to run toward the wall of the alley and began triangle-jumping off the walls until he reached the roof and started sprinting, not wanting to waste time.

In another alley, an imposing figure stood before a murdered little girl. It was shaped like a centaur, half "man" and half beast, with claws, a large tail, a tough body, and a sort of helmet where a single red eye peeked out. "Easiest heist ever." The creature rasped, devouring the soul it practically ripped out of the young lass's body.

"Easiest _what_!?"

The centaur watched as Caius, carrying Claudia, suddenly dropped in front of it. The monster glowed quietly, seeing that a proselyte of the DWMA had come for him. Claudia examined the creature and gasped in alarm, "This is the monster we were looking for! I can feel it! He's evil, Caius!"

"Then, transform, Claudia, and let's rid the world of this nasty creature." Caius commanded resolutely, eyeing the centaur that seemed equally ready to fight.

"Yes!" Claudia's body glowed white and subsequently formed into a lance in Caius's hands.

He gripped the weapon and span it as he charged, "You're finished!" The centaur waited until Caius was close enough before throwing a punch. The bespectacled meister slid underneath the punch. As he slid beneath and between the front legs of the centaur, he brutally sliced the underside of it until he reached the end of the hind legs and rolled away.

"GRAH!" The centaur grunted loudly in pain, staggering forward, "You little pest. KNOW YOUR PLACE!" Its tail sprouted multiple spikes and swung it at Caius. In response, the lance meister held up the lance to block it but skidded back from the impact.

"Careful, Caius! This one seems to have many tricks up his sleeves." Claudia said with a tone of urgency.

"Understood." Caius spoke in acknowledgment, watching as the monster stood and faced him. Its arms sprouted spikes and launched them quickly. _"Long-ranged now, huh?"_ The bespectacled teen reflexively ducked underneath the volleyed spikes and charged for the centaur, whose tailed gained spikes again, _"This again?"_ Dauntless, Caius front-flipped over the subsequent swing.

"You're mine!" The centaur roared, pivoting its large body and slamming its arm into Caius. The lance meister's eyes widened and released a strident grunt as his back hit the stone wall of the alley.

"CAIUS!" Claudia exclaimed concernedly.

Caius shook it off, rising his feet, "Don't worry. I'm fine." He glared vehemently as he kneeled down, "I got something for this punk." Caius took his right hand off the lance as it crackled with his soul wavelength. He then slammed it on the ground, "Quo Vadis!"

From the ground, several spokes of spiritual energy, formed from purplish-blue wavelength flames, shot up and stabbed into the creature, rendering it immobile. The centaur roared in a vexed tone, unable to move any of its limbs or appendages, "What is sorcery is this?!"

"Shut up!" Caius shouted authoritatively, charging at the monster and stabbing the blade of the lance into it. Then, he perilously pulled it out, bodily pieces flying out from the newly formed hole, and unrelentingly delivered a final, diagonal slash across its torso. The centaur was in so much pain from having its torso practically torn open that it couldn't even scream in agony as it fell over, finally defeated.

"Yes! You did it, Caius!" Claudia celebrated happily, glad to see the monster perish at Caius's hands.

"Hmph. And stay down." Caius sneered, adjusting his glasses as the monster began to dissolve into darkness. Its body finally faded away; however, that was simply it. Nothing was left behind in its wake. Caius narrowed his in displeasure. He knew this was a Gemini-type being they were dealing with, but one of the composites should have left behind at least a fragment of the soul.

"What?!" Claudia exclaimed in confusion, her profile appeared on the blade of the lance, "Where is the Kishin Egg Soul?!"

"This can't be though…" Caius muttered in disbelief. He initialized Soul Perception yet again to view his surroundings via his sixth sense but came up with inconclusive or undesired results. "What the heck? This is impossible. Where is the Kishin Egg Soul?!"

"What should we do, Caius?! The Kishin Egg Soul isn't here!" Claudia said in distress. Just then , a thought came across her. In each incident, two human souls disappeared, and this was a gemini monster they were trying to eliminate. Lord Death made it a point to mention teamwork was mandatory in order to complete the mission. The problem was, in either case, the other half was missing. "Unless..."

Caius looked down at lance quizzically, "Unless what?"

"We have to find Maka and Soul!" she said urgently, coming to the conclusion they had to be in more danger than they were.

Sensing the exigency in her voice, Caius responded, "R-Right!" He then started running off but immediately noticed the problem, "But where in the world could they be?"

"Well, if they were smart, they would use the signal I gave them," Claudia spoke matter-of-factly "I just hope they haven't run into the monsters. Because I fear, if they do, they will be in big trouble."

"I just hope they are," Caius said as he rounded a corner, "I mean, I may not know them very well, but they don't seem like they would forget we're here to help."

Claudia sighed faintly, close to fearing the worst, especially with respect to her crush, "Oh, my poor Soul. I hope he's okay. If he dies, how would I have his babies?" She questioned distressfully.

"….Right."

* * *

In another part of the downtown area, just like Caius and Claudia, Maka and Soul were hard at work trying to locate the gemini monster. Even with her powerful Soul Perception, Maka too had a difficult time finding any clues while Soul's own eyesight failed to catch anything she would rarely miss. Luckily, however, Maka was able to notice when two human souls suddenly and inexplicably disappeared from radar, and one of the sites was nearby.

"I love it when Brother and I can hunt some souls in peace." A monster said bloodthirstily. Compared to its counterpart, this one was a little smaller, being a raven-like creature with separate arms possessing vicious killing claws and large, exaggerated wings. Lying beneath it was a maimed old man, and the avian monster devoured the soul it harvested from him.

"So there you are, you monster!"

The raven monster turned around and hissed venomously at the sight of Maka and Soul standing at the entrance to the alleyway. The latter's arm had already transformed into the red and black blade of a scythe while the meister pointed accusingly at the creature, "Killing innocent lives and devouring their souls… You must be punished for your crimes!"

"Hmph. Alright, let's make this quick." The rest of Soul's body glowed a bright white as it morphed into the long handle of his scythe form, spinning quickly into his meister's hands.

Maka grabbed the scythe, gave it a spin, and then held it, pointing the blade forward as she got in a stance. "In the name of Lord Death, you will be punished! Your soul is mine!" she declared firmly.

The monster hissed more demonically and flew straight toward Maka, the scythe meister darting forward while gripping the scythe tightly. The avian creature dove for Maka, trying to swipe at her with its wings. Maka quickly knelt down and took a great leap over the wing, dodging it. Then, she performed a front-flip and immediately dove down while holding the scythe in air and sliced the monster. The raven roared painfully when it was slashed, falling to the ground.

"Nice shot there, Maka." Soul commented in an impressed tone.

"Not over yet!" Maka shouted, slamming her feet down on the monster's face back, back-flipping out of the way, and landing about five feet from it. The raven monster growled dangerously before sharply turning around and swinging its wing, sending out several sharp feathers for the ashy blond teenager. Maka swings her blade to cut the feathers and dodge them but ends up get cut on the leg by a wayward one. "GAH!" She cried out, kneeling down and clutching her wound.

"Be careful, Maka." Soul coached cautiously, watching as the avian creature took flight once again and faced Maka, hissing venomously.

"Having trouble, Sister?"

"…Bold talk for someone who seems to have been slain. Brother."

Both Maka and Soul watched with wide eyes as darkness surrounded and encircled the raven. Eventually, the centaur reformed with the raven fused atop it, the two seemingly united into a single form.

"And there goes our target." Soul commented guardedly, his reflection appearing on the blade of his scythe form as Maka prepared herself.

However, before anything was done, the Brother and Sister suddenly divided into their individual forms. The Brother's tail gained spikes as the Sister's wing sprouted several sharp feathers, ready to launch them at Maka.

"I suppose it's easier to pick them off one by one instead of at the same time." The Brother mused.

"Funny how I was thinking the same thing." The Sister stated uncannily.

"Damn. Two against one aren't good odds..." Soul remarked grimly, gritting his teeth.

Maka was somewhat taken aback by the sudden change of events, gripping the handle tightly, "Maybe it was a bad idea for us to separate. Now I see why Lord Death wanted us have another team to help." She span the scythe two times to get herself ready, "Let's go, Soul Eater." She said before charging.

The Sister flapped her wings, sending out the sharp feathers. Maka quickly slashed the feathers and continued charging at them, leaping up and swinging the scythe at the raven monster. However, the Brother lashed out its spiked tail from under the Sister to counter Maka's swing. "Ngh!" She grunted after the blade clashed with the tail, jumping back to create some breathing room but maintaining her battle stance, "These two are working as one. It will be difficult to hit one when the other will block my attacks."

"Don't worry. We can do this. We've gone through tougher things." Soul said encouragingly.

The Sister hissed in agitation and charged, flapping her huge wings. The Brother backed her up by firing spikes. Maka answered back by swinging the scythe to block the spikes and dodging them to the best of her ability, but when she least expected it, the Sister suddenly accelerated, ramming into Maka with great force.

"GUH!" Maka cried out in pain. She was hit so hard that she was launched into the nearby wall and lost her grip on the scythe.

"MAKA!" Soul shouted concernedly, the blade of his scythe form lodged into the surface of a different wall. When he saw the monsters approaching Maka, he tried to change back; however, his immobilized state prevented such. "Damn it! Where's Caius and Claudia?!" he yelled in frustration.

"Seems like another soul for the taking." The Sister remarked in a rather pleased tone.

"Perfect. And a DWMA student at that. An even better benefit." The Brother said smugly.

"Ngh..." Maka groaned, staring at them with one eye half open and the other closed. She slid down from the wall and landed on her butt. At that moment, she heard something drop onto the ground and looked down to see the signal device. _"That's right! I can use this to call for Caius and Claudia! I just hope I'm not too late and hope they make it in time."_ She thought hopefully, grabbing the gun and slowly pointing it up. The monsters wanted to laugh, registering that as a simple, futile act of desperation. Finally, Maka fired, a red stream shooting up toward the sky and exploding in the air, showing an image of Lord Death's mask.

That done, Maka slowly rose, planning to escape their wrath and find a way to retrieve the scythe. She warily eyed back and forth between the monsters and the scythe. The Brother gained spikes again in preparation for the assault while the Sister grew more sharp feathers. "Any last words?" The raven monster asked belittlingly.

Maka sneered in disgust, showing no signs of weakness, "Go to hell."

The Brother's glowing red eye brightened in an offended but enraged manner, "Such hubris; your punishment await—" His statement was left unfinished when suddenly his arm was cut off. "ARGH!" He hollered, the pain from the dismemberment forcing him to stagger back as agony rippled through his body.

"Brother?!" The Sister exclaimed in shock, turning to check the welfare of her counterpart.

Both Maka and Soul were equally shocked and saw someone land before the two monsters. It was Caius, hunched over as he took off his glasses to wipe off the great amount of sweat on his face with the ends of his battle coat. It was obvious he did his best to make sure he arrived on time. "A gentlemen shouldn't raise his arm against an unarmed lady." Caius said in a disparagingly matter-of-fact manner. He straightened up, putting his glasses back on but was surprised to see the centaur was back in action, _"..I-I could've sworn I already killed that one! Why is it back?"_

"Caius! You made it!" Maka exclaimed, relieved that the gun signal did the trick.

"Get your weapon! Hurry!" Caius instructed hurriedly, looking his shoulder at the scythe meister.

"Not if I can help it!" The Sister hissed dangerously, preparing to charge at Maka.

"Hold it right there!" Caius shouted, sprinting in the way of both the raven and the centaur as he assumed his battle stance.

"Just die!" The Sister cawed demonically, flapping her large wings and sending out a fusillade of sharp feathers for him. Unprepared for the Sister's tactics somewhat, Caius started trying to block and deflect them to the best of his ability with the lance but was nicked every now and then, signaled by the small cuts that occasionally appeared on his outfit.

Meanwhile, Maka finally made it over to her scythe and pulled it out of the wall, "Got it!" she announced, leaping up afterwards. "HA!" She swung the scythe downward, attacking the Sister. The raven monster roared in pain as she lost several feathers and shreds of skin, stopping its attack and staggering backwards.

Caius was relieved he was saved from the onslaught, shoulders slumping, "Phew…" He adjusted his glasses as he focused on the two injured monsters, "A gemini monster, two different entities of the same soul. Well, we have our two entities. So where's the 'same soul?'" he wondered aloud.

Soul's reflection appeared on the blade of the scythe, "Funny you should mention that."

Maka explained, keeping her eyes on the recovering monsters, "Before you came, we ran into the raven monster and fought her. But suddenly, this centaur one came out of nowhere and they formed into one being."

Claudia's image appeared on the blade of the lance, "So you are saying that they _are_ the same soul even if they are separated?"

Maka nodded, "I am sure of it. That is why they are called the Gemini. They are one as brother and sister. And they are equally dangerous."

While he appreciated the new insight to the situation, there was one question that was left unanswered for Caius, _" That still doesn't explain how the centaur reformed even after I killed it...Wait.."_ The centaur resurrected after its death and came to where the raven was, his counterpart and other half. According to Maka, they combined into one being but now are separate again. "One being…" he said under his breath contemplatively and then spoke aloud, "I get it. These monsters are immune to death when separate because the 'same soul' does not exist. They have to come to each other when slain in order to reform. But, when combined, they can get killed because the pieces of the same soul are together as one."

"If I'm following you correctly, we need these two to combine into one being again before we can kill 'em." Soul asked for confirmation.

"That is correct." Caius answered.

Now that she had a firm grasp of the situation, Maka suggested, "Then we need a plan. Let's try to overwhelm them so that they are forced to come together to defeat us. And from there, we take them down."

"Let's do it." Caius span the lance before pointing it at the monsters, "Ladies first; unless you want me to take lead."

"Hn. I'll take the first step." Maka replied before spinning scythe from one had to another and then darted out towards the raven, "Let's do this, Soul!"

"You got it!" The Demon Scythe replied as his image disappeared from the blade.

"Here we go, Claudia!" Caius exclaimed, charging at the centaur.

"Let's do it!" The Demon Lance responded as her reflection vanished from the blade as well.

The Brother and the Sister watched as the two humans charge at them with renewed vigor, obviously having a plan in mind. "They are trying to invoke teamwork upon us. Taking us on at the same time." The Brother noted insightfully.

"Then, let us show them why we are the Gemini. No two are better than us at teamwork." The Sister said arrogantly.

The Brother raised its only arm and launched spiky projectiles into the air. The Sister ascended and flapped her wings, sending not only a volatile gust but also accelerating the speed of the spikes.

Caius gritted his teeth as he was slowed down by the speed of the wind. Maka held her ground, also being held up by the powerful gust. _"They're trying to slow us down!"_ Caius thought, alerted, trying to remain calm. Then, he saw the projectiles coming. "Uh-oh!" Quickly, he held out the lance out and started spinning it like a pinwheel to block the spikes. On each impact, Caius skidded back a little with the gust threatening to blow him away each and every time.

Maka was in a similar situation, deflecting the attack with her scythe, "We won't quit!" she shouted determinedly.

"HA! Don't make me laugh!" the Sister sneered, "You cannot defeat our combined might! My brother and I have been doing this for years. We are perfectly in synch!"

"I may not be able to see souls, but I can tell this is your first time teaming up." The Brother remarked darkly, "Know why I can say that with certainty? You two are completely out of synch. You've no idea if you can even completely rely on each other!"

Soul gritted his teeth, "Arrogant bastards…"

"Darn monsters…!" Caius insulted, still struggling.

Maka growled while Claudia hissed, truly seeing how quickly the tables were turning against them.

Meanwhile, back in the Academy, Lord Death was watching the battle from his mirror in the Death Room, maintaining a neutral expression as his students struggled against the gemini monsters. He was transfixed with the battle that he did not even notice two people entering his sanctuary.

"I swear, Stein. You need to get out and have some fun! I know a great place to give you entertainment~" Lord Death's personal Death Scythe, Spirit, was conversing with his former meister partner Stein as they walked in.

Stein kept his usual expression, walking with his hands inside the pockets of his lab coat as he replied dully, "Spirit, your definition of entertainment is more than likely a strip club. I pass."

"And what's wrong with that?" the redheaded Death Scythe asked cheekily.

Lord Death finally noticed someone had entered his Death Room and turned around, seeing them, "Oh hey you two. What's up?"

"Nothing much, my lord. What's up?" Spirit asked casually.

"Oh. Just watching Maka and Caius struggling in battle." Lord Death answered nonchalantly.

"….WHAT?!" Spirit shouted in concern, his overprotective father instincts activating. He dashed over to the mirror and indeed saw his beloved daughter struggling against the Sister and Brother of the Gemini, "MAKA! I must go help!"

"Now hold on there, Spirit. You can't go help her now." Lord Death stated critically. When Spirit turned to him, the God or Order held up a hand so that he could continue, "Well, first of all, they are in Madrid, Spain. Second, this is part of a task that she and the others will have to face. They must learn how to trust each other and become one, just like the gemini monsters. If they don't get along and actually work together to stop them, it will be too late."

That was the thing Spirit didn't like about the situation. His daughter was in imminent danger, and he could do nothing about it but trust in her own skills, and her partners. "…Maka…" he mumbled worriedly.

"Just have faith in her. I am sure they will succeed." Lord Death said consolingly.

Stein walked up to the screen, watching the battle and seeing the Sister ram into Caius. That caused him to hit the wall pretty hard and slide down, dropping the lance as he landed on his behind. "The gemini monsters, huh?" The bespectacled scientist looked over to Lord Death, "If that was the case, Lord Death, why didn't you send Maka and Soul with teams they were already in synch with? Like Black Star and Tsubaki or Kid, Liz, and Patty? Why Caius and Claudia?"

Lord Death answered back in a confident tone as the screen showed Maka narrowly avoiding a storm of spikes sent by the Brother, resulting in some parts of her coat ripping, "Because, Stein, Caius and Claudia are a very unique team, and it teaches a lesson to not only be comfortable with your regular teams but also a team that you don't get along with. They may have their differences, but they are a team regardless, and they all agree to stand up for what is right as DWMA students. And, who knows, maybe they will learn how to get along after this."

"Hn. Fair enough." Stein replied, buying the explanation.

"Now let us watch and observe." Lord Death said he and the other two males resumed watching.

Back at the action in Madrid, Caius and Maka—at different positions in the alley—panted heavily as they kept their eyes on the Sister and the Brother. It was starting to seem like the monsters were gaining the upper hand due to being immensely more experienced in synchronization and teamwork.

"It's so difficult to analyze these two even with help. I can't think of a good strategy..." Caius remarked, kneeling down.

"We have to try something! We can't let those ugly creatures beat us!" Claudia stated with concern.

"I know…" Caius replied weakly, "It's just that they really _are_ in synch…"

"Soul, I hate to say this, but they are right. There is no way we can beat them in this state." Maka said, remembering when the Sister and Brother boasted about their unstoppable combination before this scuffle started.

"Hey, come on. Don't start thinkin' like that. There has to be a way to beat these guys!" Soul said supportively.

Maka knew what that way was, along with the consequences that came with it, "...there is." She said, standing up, "But it will take some cooperation from…" she glanced Caius and the lance in his hand, "them."

"That so?" Soul replied, glancing at them as well, "That so? Well, gotta start somewhere, right? Let's go over to them."

Maka nodded, "Right." She then walked over to them but kept an eye on the Brother and Sister in case they tried anything suspicious. "Caius. Claudia. I have an idea, but I need you two to cooperate with us." Claudia's reflection appeared on the blade of the lance as she and her meister looked at Maka, waiting for her suggestion, "There is no way we can defeat them separate. As you see, those two monsters are totally in synch. The only way that we could possibly defeat them is that you and I, Meisters and Weapons, also be in synch and destroy them."

"No way! I object to that! Caius and I can handle them just fine!" Claudia cried out objectively, confident in their own individual abilities.

Caius closed his eyes, ruminating on the proposition and the current situation. _" It's not like we're trying to become friends...we're just working together toward a common cause, and that's a good enough reason."_ he thought, reminding himself. He opened his eyes and looked at Maka, asking, "What do you propose?"

"Let's try doing Chain Resonance." Maka suggested seriously.

"What?! But that will be difficult! Do you expect that we can do that technique now?!" Claudia objected heatedly.

Maka glared at the lance and snapped back, "Do you have a better idea, Claudia?!" The rich girl balked a little at the sharpness of Maka's tone. The scythe meister continued rationally, "Look, I know we don't know each other well or if we can master this technique in one shot. But I am willing to try if you just try with me and then maybe we can beat them! We have to stop them at all cost before they go on and take more innocent lives!"

Caius wholeheartedly agreed to Maka's sentiments. He remembered one of the monsters staying they had been doing this for years. They thought it was a sport to take lives and eat their souls afterwards. Such a travesty could not go any longer, and the fact they were still alive offended Caius's eyes. "And that's good enough reason for me to give it a shot." He said decisively.

Maka smiled and nodded graciously, "Thanks."

"This'll be a stretch, but we got this." Soul said confidently.

"Hmph." Claudia huffed but nonetheless had nothing else to say.

Seeing this exchange, the Brother whispered guardedly toward amongst his sister, "What are they planning...?"

The Sister replied murderously, "A bit too late to strategize when their deathbeds are already made out."

The Brother nodded, agreeing with her statement, and added in cautiously, "Whatever the case, be ready to disrupt it. Only this time, we'll finish them off."

Maka turned her body and faced the two demons with serious eyes. "Let's go! Soul Resonance!" Maka and Soul shouted, activating the technique. Their two souls matched each other's wavelengths and resonated back and forth between each other, amplifying their total wavelength energy to great heights. Soon enough, the blade of Soul's scythe form glowed a mystic blue and white. The blade grew in size, becoming a large, moon-shaped blade with a red and blue face pattern on it. "Witch Hunter!"

Caius rotated in the lance above his head a few times before stopping and stationing it by his side. "Let's go! Soul Resonance!" Caius and Claudia yelled, activating their own resonation. The lance glowed, enveloped by a bright, yellow light. Subsequently, it transformed into a regal and stylish, white and gold harpoon-like missile, resting on a small golden missile launcher base that encased one of Caius's arms. "Deus Iratus!"

"And it's _definitely_ too late to synch up now!" The Sister yelled belittlingly, unfazed by the turn of events.

"Sister! Ready yourself! Time to claim their souls!" The Brother proclaimed exuberantly.

"Chain Resonance!" Caius and Maka shouted as grayish-white soul barriers formed around them. The two meisters closed their eyes and concentrated, trying to connect to each other's Soul Resonance in order to empower one another.

_" We are in this together; it is our duty to exterminate these evil demons!"_ Maka thought resolutely, being calm and learning the Caius's wavelength. Soon, a strand began to exit from the top of her soul barrier.

_" Try to feel Maka's soul wavelength. Inhale and exhale…"_ Caius thought while in deep concentration. A stand of his own began to extend from his soul barrier and inched toward Maka's, slowly but surely.

Everyone on their side watched warily, holding their breaths as the strands came closer and closer. Within seconds, the strands finally connected and merged, releasing a powerful wave of grayish-white soul wavelength energy. Caius and Maka were now united in soul wavelength, increasing the power of each other's Soul Resonance. The effects were almost palpable as the successful Chain Resonance even unnerved the Brother and Sister.

"This soul wavelength...!" The Sister grunted, recognizing the strength of the wavelength to be that of people who were perfectly in synch. Thus, it was exponentially stronger than an individual wavelength.

"That's impossible. There's no way." The Brother refuted in disbelief. These two meisters were clumsy, easy pushovers just minutes ago, having no viable or concrete evidence of any synchronization at all. Now, they suddenly had amazing synchronization that rivaled, or even exceeded, their own.

"Brother! We must combine!" The Sister exclaimed urgently with the centaur nodded obediently. The two monsters dissipated into darkness only to combine into one, more powerful being – a half-raven and half-centaur demon.

Maka looked at Caius with a smirk and asked him, "Are you ready to end this?"

The Air Force blue-haired teen opened one eye at Maka and matched her smirk, "Ladies first."

The Gemini was appalled at their cockiness, at how they honestly believed they outmatch them—the ones who specialized in synchronization, and especially at how they were able to miraculously pull off this powerful Chain Resonance. "You wretch humans!" The voices of both the Brother and the Sister roared, charging an attack and gathering green and black energy in front of them to create a dense sphere of energy.

Maka knelt down and launched herself toward the monster, ready Witch Hunter. "Let's do this!"

"All right! Let's kick some ass!" Soul shouted boisterously, grinning wildly in his weapon form's pocket dimension.

Caius steadied himself, aiming Deus Iratus at the conjoined monsters, "Looks like Spain will be having some fireworks tonight." He remarked coolly.

"Let us dispose of these monsters once and for all!" Claudia laughed aristocratically.

"DIE!" The Gemini bellowed demonically, thrusting forth its dense sphere of energy at the same time Maka swung Witch Hunter with waves of power streaming out from the collision. Immediately, the Gemini found itself struggling to gain supremacy in this power struggle. "This is impossible! How could you have so much power?! How are you already in synch?!" The Brother and Sister interrogated loudly and in total disbelief.

"Because we are a team!" Maka retorted, "No matter of our differences, we stand for what's right and stop evildoers like you! In the name of Lord Death, you will pay for your crimes!" She added more force onto the Witch Hunter, trying to break through the sphere and get a good shot on the monster behind it, yelling with all her might.

Almost instantly, sphere shattered, allowing Maka to finish her swing and cleave apart the frontal parts of the Gemini, the Brother and Sister being consumed by the purifying light of Witch Hunter. Maka jumped away as Caius visually locked on to them. "Fire!" He exclaimed, firing the lance-missile as it was covered in a bright yellow light, rocketing toward the Gemini.

_BOOM!_

About a minute later, after all smoke and dust from the explosion caused by the Chain Resonance-empowered Deus Iratus subsided, the two were able to regroup and bask in the glory of their recent accomplishment. Two Kishin Egg Souls floated where the Gemini once stood.

Soul gave a high five to Caius, commenting merrily, "Well, we make a pretty cool team, the four of us."

"Yeah. Thankfully." Caius remarked, rubbing the back of his head with the same hand he high-fived Soul with. Honestly, he felt awkward saying that, not use to celebrating a successful mission with another team.

"Yeah. We are a pretty cool team, huh?" Maka said smilingly.

"Well of course we are!" Claudia boasted egoistically, "Without us, you two would have been doomed! After all, Caius and I are the best. You just better be lucky that we were able to help, Maka."

A mark of anger appeared on Maka's temple, somewhat offended by the rich girl's remark, "Are you kidding me?! Why do you have to be such a brat?!"

Caius sighed at Maka and Claudia's interaction while Soul appeared to be somewhat humored. As the quarter of teenagers reveled in the success of their mission, the three back at the Death Room had seen everyone unfold.

"Hm. So they did it. I'm quite frankly surprised. That was Caius and Claudia's first time collaborating with another team," Stein commented critically and looked at Lord Death from the corner of his eyes, "Was that intentional, Lord Death?"

Lord Death shook his head, "Not really. I just thought those two teams would be great to take on the case." He looked at the two faculty members as he clapped his hands together, "Now then. How about we have some tea?"

Spirit was too busy being giddy over his daughter's accomplishment to listen to Lord Death. " OH MAKA~! I knew you could do it! MAKAAAA~" He said contently, rocking back and forth as he sat on the platform.

Stein sighed, unable to understand the mindset of parents.

**Author Notes**

As you can see, the next chapter had significantly more meat than the prologue, even to the point I had to separate this single chapter into two separate submissions. I really hope that will be the case for all the upcoming chapters because not only do I want to speed the story but also I want to provide a significant amount of stuff for you guys to chew on while I'm composing the next. Anyway, see you next time. Adieu and Adios.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Soul Eater is copyrighted to Atsushi Okubo and all other third parties (characters, series, and concepts). As of this chapter, material owned by me is Caius Vlandingham, the Gemini, and Noel Ricardsen; and HopeDiamond101 of DeviantArt owns Claudia Moncharmin.

**Interaction: The Cruel Work of Fate?**

In downtown Madrid, Spain, the team of Maka Albarn, Caius Vlandingham, Soul Eater, and Claudia Moncharmin were tasked with hunting down a gemini monster, who was reaping and harvesting souls two-by-two for the longest in the area. After long searching and running, they had cornered the two composites of the Gemini: the Brother and the Sister. Even then, they proved to be strong foes due to their great teamwork. However, with a single successful Chain Resonance, Maka, Caius, Soul, and Claudia were able to defeat the Brother and Sister of the Gemini, ending their reign of synchronized terror and preventing them from becoming a future Kishin.

The best part was that the reward was two Kishin Egg Souls.

"Oooooo la la! Look at them! Aren't they look so tasty?" Claudia fawned giddily as she stared at one of the souls, holding a lemon wedge in her hand that she retrieved from Caius. She squeezed the lemon onto the Kishin Egg Soul, causing the yellow fruit to release its liquid contents onto it. She tossed away the wedge and proceeded to eat it. "Mmm." She hummed in a satisfied manner.

"You got that right. Bottom's up." Soul said as he grabbed the other Kishin Egg Soul, opened his mouth, and ate it whole, sighing contently afterwards, " A little bitter, but still just as great."

"That makes thirty-two souls for us, Claudia. Sixty-seven and a witch soul remain." Caius pointed out, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Alright, gang. Let's report to Lord Death and get out of here." Maka articulated.

"And I'll be making a call." Claudia announced as she stepped to the side.

Maka walked out of the alley and to the nearest window, blowing her breath on the surface to make it foggy and then writing on it with her finger. "42-42-564 if you want to knock on Death's door."

After finishing the necessary procedures, the window glowed and Lord Death appeared on screen. "Ah, hello! Hello! What's up? How did it go?" he asked curiously.

"Mission accomplished, sir. We defeated the Gemini." Maka reported proudly.

"Ah, excellent! Excellent!" Lord Death replied happily, "I knew I could count on you four. Very good job."

Soul stayed off to the side, waiting on everyone else. Caius appeared on Lord Death's mirror's screen beside Maka, supplementing the report with his own words, "The Gemini consisted of a "Brother" and "Sister." They each had an individual form that teamed up to reap souls at different locations. Inexplicably, they didn't appear on radar when we used Soul Perception but did in their combined state. Nevertheless, we figured out that they could only be damaged in their combined form and destroyed them, meriting two Kishin Egg Souls as opposed to one like I thought was originally going to happen."

Lord Death nodded, now understanding why the Gemini had been a problem in the past, "Ahhh, I see. Very tricky. No wonder it was hard to sense them."

"MAKA, SWEETIE!" Spirit suddenly popped into view of the window screen, obscuring Lord Death, as he gushed proudly, "I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!"

"Ugh. Not you." Maka groused, narrowing her green eyes.

Spirit then noticed Caius and frowned in displeasure, "And who are you? You better not try to get near my daughter, you little punk!"

Caius gained a disconcerted expression when the Death Scythe probed him so viciously. Maka growled, feeling embarrassed that her teammate had to suffer that. "Would you shut up?!" She demanded, stepping in.

Spirit directed his attention back to the scythe meister, "Oh, Maka. Don't be so mean to your father."

Maka rolled her eyes, "You're not my father."

Her words stuck like a thousand hornets, given by the immense shock washing through Spirit's face. Feeling rejected, the redheaded weapon walked off and sulked depressingly off-screen. Lord Death scratched his head with a perplexed expression, "Er, anyway… see you four back at the academy." The God of Order help up a peace sign, "Take care." The transmission ended and the window screen returned to normal.

"What?! What do you mean it's been postponed?!"

Soul took his attention away from the meisters and looked at Claudia, who seemed distressed as she talked on her cell phone. Her outburst also seemed to catch the attention of Maka and Caius.

The Demon Lance sighed in defeat, "Very well. I will see you soon." She hung up and put away her cell phone, turning to her group, "Bad news. It seems our trip back home has been postponed. It appears that the jet needs a checkup. So we may have to stay for a day."

Soul rubbed the back of his head, "Great. So we're stuck in Spain."

"So, it looks like we'll need to check in at a hotel," Claudia suggested and then suddenly clung to Soul's arm, "I don't mind sharing a room with you, Soul~" she hummed in an amorous manner. Soul gained a sour expression, slipping his arm away from Claudia in order to regain his personal space.

Maka frowned in disapproval and shouted angrily, "He is not staying in a room with you!"

Claudia groaned unhappily, complaining, "Maka, why do you intend to break us up?! WE ARE THE PERFECT COUPLE!" She reached up and grabbed Soul by his cheeks, pulling them so that his face resembled that of a cute little fish, "How can you be mean to a precious face like this?"

"H-Hey, cut it out, Claudia! I mean it!" Soul demanded, pulling her hands away from his face.

Maka rolled her eyes, getting tired of Claudia's fanatical personality. Caius sighed and kicked invisible dust on the ground as he thought miserably, _"I can't believe I'm stuck with these three."_

"TO THE HOTEL!" Claudia exclaimed zealously, running off quickly while keeping a hold on Soul.

"H-Hey! I can walk on my own! Not cool!" Soul fretted in an uncomfortable tone as he was dragged off the rich Demon Lance.

"H-HEY! Get back here!" Maka ordered, chasing her. The scythe meister did not trust Claudia alone with her partner at all. Caius simply walked after them, hands in his pockets.

Soon enough, the four made it to the AC Palacio del Retiro. The very fancy and elegant hotel possessed an early twentieth century and almost Baroque-like palace façade, overlooking the beautiful Retiro Park. Inside, the hotel possessed deceptively contemporary features, such as swanky high-gloss modernist furniture and high-tech luxury-hotel technologies like the two immense plasma-screen TVs located in the large, spacious lobby that was a short walk away from the receptionist desk.

Soul and Maka looked around the interior with amazed and awed expressions, never observing such high-class and opulent architecture before, even during their various missions in Italy.

"Wow. It's so beautiful." Maka commented, eyes glued to the expensive and large golden-amber chandeliers hanging from the wide ceiling.

Soul whistled in an impressed manner, the noise echoing slightly due to the large space, "Nice dibs. Whoever built and designed this has cool tastes!"

Caius, on the other hand, was accustomed to seeing the regal and lavish tastes of the Moncharmin Family, finding nothing special about the surroundings. He had seen other buildings and constructs significantly more luxuriant.

Claudia walked up to the receptionist desk and said politely, "Excuse me, sir, I need two master suites under the name of Claude Moncharmin please."

"Yes, ma'am." The receptionist said with his thick, Spanish accent showing itself. He turned in his business seat and began typing on the computer. Once the payments were made and the data submitted into the computer, the receptionist handed over two card keys in an envelope.

"Thank you!" Claudia said gratuitously as she took the envelope and walked back over to her group, "Alright. I have ordered two master suites for us. Since Maka is being a big party pooper, the guys will sleep in one room and the girls will sleep in the other room." She handed over one of the card keys to Maka as she whispered mischievously to Soul, "But next time, you will be mine~"

The albino-haired Demon Scythe simply ignored her, paying attention to the lavish interior architecture of the hotel.

"Now, we must get out of here at five o'clock am sharp. That way, we can get on the jet and head back to the Academy on time." Claudia explained further.

"Alright." Caius said as he nodded. However, on the inside, he was rather disconcerted. _"Great…my perfect attendance record is at stake."_ he thought bitterly. Ever since he had joined the DWMA, Caius managed to maintain a perfect slate, not being tardy or absent even once to any of his classes. It started out as a routine done unconsciously and eventually decided to challenge himself in maintaining that perfect attendance. It was one thing he did to entertain himself since going to class, taking on missions, and heading home proved themselves to be monotonous after awhile.

"Now...I WANNA GO SHOPPING!" Claudia articulated suddenly.

Maka sweat-dropped, knowing that shopping voraciously was part of the tendencies and interests of a young and rich female, especially one like Claudia. _"This will be a loooong day…" _ the ashy blond thought grimly.

* * *

The gang was now at a large clothing store in Plaza Norte 2 Commercial Center, the largest shopping mall in Madrid, Spain. Like the shopaholic and fashion enthusiast she was, Claudia was perusing the many selection of outfits with a scrutinizing eye. Maka was just standing around with an unamused expression of face, and Caius and Soul were leaning against a nearby wall with respectable difference between each other, the former reading a book.

"Why are we here again?" Maka questioned irritably.

"We are here to shop!" Claudia replied matter-of-factly, shaking her head, "What is the matter with you? Don't you want to have something so that you can remember your trip in Spain?"

Maka sighed, "I guess…It's just…" she looked around and shivered at the numbers displayed on many of the price tags in the store, "This place is so expensive!"

Claudia clicked her tongue, shaking her head in a pitying manner, "Tsk tsk. I forgot that you are a peasant not use to the rich lifestyle." Maka growled a little at the insult as Soul snickered, finding amusement in watching the two girls interact. Caius only rolled his dark white eyes as he flipped a page, mumbling something about immaturity.

Claudia held out a red dress and pressed it against herself, "Hmm. Do you think this will look good on me?" she asked for an honest opinion.

"A hippo would look better in that dress than you." Maka slighted.

Claudia gasped loudly, feeling offended, "How _dare_ you!" She pouted and looked away briskly, Maka repeating the gesture.

The scythe meister then noticed by himself reading a book, deciding to ditch the rich girl and approach the bespectacled sixteen-year-old. "Hey...Caius, right? Whatcha reading?" she asked casually but cautiously.

Caius looked up from his book and gazed at Maka as he replied genteelly, "Oh, um, just reading Sonnets made by William Shakespeare."

Maka arched a curious brow, "Oh? Are you a William Shakespeare fan?"

"He is one of my favorites," Caius answered, "But, really, I'm a fan of any literature. I have a whole library back home."

The female teenager almost felt jealous, "Oh, that's cool. I don't have many books, but I do spend most of my time at the library." Her tone became calmly euphoric as she continued, "Reading all different kinds of stories and academic books to gain knowledge of the world and its mysteries. There's so much to learn and so many things to discover."

"Yes, I agree. It also bolsters one's own knowledge and intelligence." Caius stated, putting his attention back to his book and jerking it so that it flipped a page.

Maka could attest to that statement. After all, she religiously read books and was currently a straight-A student. "That's very true." Since they were on the subject of literature, she decided to strike up a conversation about one of her favorite books, "Hey, have you read a book called _Illusions of the Mind_ by Albert Cornwall?"

Caius looked up from his book and answered her, "No, actually. That one is new to me." All the while, like a mantra, the Air Force blue-haired meister made it a point to remind himself that Maka was simply curious about his taste in literature and nothing more, _"She's just curious, Caius. Not like she wants to be your friend. Plus, she's a lady; respect her like your family taught you to."_ he thought antisocially.

Maka took this time to explain the gist of the book, "Well, it's a great book. It talks about how your mind can play tricks on you. For example, if you get stuck in a dark room, all by yourself and it's quiet. Suddenly you start to hear things which start to scare you, but there is no one in the room but you. You see, the book explains in detail about the mind and how it functions to make you think things are there, but in reality it's just a hallucination."

"So it's a psychological study if anything?" Caius conjectured.

Maka nodded, "Mhm. If you like, I can let you borrow it."

"Um…" Caius hesitated. He did not want to get close to anyone, but he could not help the sudden interest he found in this book. Against his better nature, he finally accepted Maka's offer, "S-Sure."

"Okay. When we get back home, I'll let you borrow it, okay?" Maka stated, smiling at him.

Caius offered a small smile of his own in return, "Thanks."

Meanwhile, Soul watched the two meisters interact from afar, keeping an especial eye on Caius. Curiosity getting the best of him, he removed himself from the wall and approached Claudia, " Yo, Claudia. Got a second?" he asked.

The Demon Lance, who was still examining clothing, looked at him," Oh, of course, darling." She held up two blouses, one colored blue while the other was colored yellow. "Do you think this will look good on me? Or should I go with this blue blouse?"

"The blue one," The Demon Scythe answered honestly. That done, he nodded over to Caius and asked her, "Where'd you find that Caius guy? You just met him or something? I've seen you for the longest, but I've never seen you with him."

Claudia blinked in confusion, finding that to be an odd statement, "Who? Caius? He's been going to the Academy. You and the others just haven't noticed him much. And how we met…" She thought about it, for the event was about two years ago, "Well, it was a very long time ago. He saved my life from some street punks and, in return, I let him stay with me and my family. He was an orphan when I met him. And he was also...very distant when we first met. But I broke into him and now we are great friends." The blond girl sighed sadly, "But I can't help but wonder what had happened to him and his family? And why is he the way he is now? I just hope it's nothing I can't handle because I do care for him." Her teal eyes somberly glanced over to the meister in question, "He seems to be shy since he hardly has any friends outside of the mansion. He's either with me or alone somewhere. I just wish he would lighten up and make some new friends, you know?"

Soul listened to the story quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets as he eyed over to Caius once more, "Orphaned and friendless, huh?"

"I really don't know what the problem is," Claudia said unhappily, "I mean, he's been with me for a long time. It must be something big because it seems like he doesn't want to get close to anyone even if he likes him or her." She perked up as she retrieved a cute dress from another rack, "There is so many things I don't know about him. But I am patient. He can tell me when he's good and ready."

"Yeah." Soul adjusted his headband. He remembered back when he and his friends tried to stop the Kishin revival; Maka had befriended a broken and lonesome Crona. _"..The fear of interaction...I remember when I used to be like that."_

Caius looked his book and sighed, getting rather bored with it. However, he wasn't up for meandering around the mall, given how late it was. He wanted to do some wholesome and quiet before heading to bed. He then realized that, in two weeks, there would be a cumulative test. Studying was just what he needed; however, he did not have the necessary things to do so. He glanced toward Maka, wondering if she had the material, "Miss Maka?"

"Hm? What is it?" she replied, looking at him.

"Did you happen to bring any studying material for Professor Stein's class? I was planning on beginning to study for the test tonight after we got home. But, as you can see, there's a wedge in that plan." He explained.

Maka realized something; she actually did. She too wanted to begin studying tonight but brought the material to Spain just in case the mission took too long or extended to the following day. "Actually, I did. But I left it in the private jet. Do you think they would let me get it out?"

"They should," Caius assured, "especially if you tell them that me or Claudia said you could. And I ask because I would like to use them to study." He reconsidered his words, believing they made him sound selfish, "U-Uh, that is if you're not using them! If you are, then don't worry about it."

"Well I was planning to study, too. Maybe we can study together," Maka suggested friendly, "Let's go to the airport and grab those books. What do you say?"

Again, Caius hesitated. However, his education mattered more than his personal feelings. His parents and grandparents always told him to prioritize education as long as the means were within legal and moral parameters. "U-Um. Sure thing." However, that did not stop him from feeling a bit uncomfortable accepting the offer, for he had yet to study with someone other than Claudia.

"Alright. Now let's go get those books." Maka said as she walked out, leading the way as Caius followed her out of the store.

Claudia did not notice the two meisters as she continued shopping, putting various assortments of clothing into Soul's arms practically without his consent. "Hmmm. This would look good with this. And OOH! This one is shiny~ These are so cute! I should try these one." She commented blissfully as she continued perusing.

Soul wanted to find a way to get out of this situation as soon as possible. "Uhh, yeah, that's nice, Claudia. I'm gonna check on our two partn—" he noticed they were leaving and deadpanned in horror, "HEY! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

Completely mishearing his cry for help for something related to her shopping, Claudia responded, "Hm? What was that? I should get this dress? OK! Now let's go!"

Soul only groaned, being helplessly dragged along by his 'number one fan.'

* * *

"Well, here we are."

Caius and Maka were at the airport, walking over to the private Moncharmin jet. However, two teenagers walking through an airport approaching a private aircraft was something that was hardly left unattended. A pilot engineer hurried over to them, "Hey! This is private property."

Caius looked at him and told him, "It's alright, sir. I'm Caius Vlandingham, Claudia's meister partner."

The pilot engineer calmed down since Caius was one of the few allowed by the Moncharmins into anything private of theirs, "Oh, alright. Is there something you need?"

"My," he glanced at Maka," acquaintance and I would like to retrieve something from inside the plane – books to study with."

The pilot engineer nodded, "Ah, I see. The door is open, so you can enter."

Maka smiled appreciatively, "Thank you. It won't take long." She and Caius proceeded into the jet. Maka looked around, trying to remember where she placed her bag. She started at the section she and the others sat at during the ride and found what she was looking at for. "Aha!" She bent down and picked up her backpack from the side of the chair and looked at Caius, "Okay! Ready!"

"Alright, let's head back to the hotel." Caius said, walking out of the plane.

In time, the two meisters had made it back to AC Palacio del Retiro. The master suites were on the third floor, forcing Maka and Caius to take the elevator up to the area. Once out of the elevator, Maka walked down the hall and stopped in front of her room door.

"Hmm. I wonder if Soul and Claudia have returned." Maka pondered aloud and then looked at Caius, "If I get in here and find the two of them, I may have to commit murder."

Caius's expression became sheepish a sweatdrop appeared on the back of his head, "I doubt they're back from shopping, Miss Maka. That won't be necessary."

As she began fishing out the card key, Maka inquired, "I must ask, how do you deal with her?"

Caius blinked, having never been asked that sort of question concerning his partnership with the young Moncharmin, "With Claudia? I asked myself the same thing when I first met and partnered with her, but she's really sweet under her..." he chose his words carefully, "eccentricities. But, then again, I have more patience than most people. So I can tolerate her."

Maka was amazed. Claudia's aristocratic tendencies seemed to get on the nerves of many people, including her own. It was almost as if Caius was custom-made for her. "Wow. I admire you for that. Anyway, let's go in and study." She slid the card key into the slot beneath the door handle and pulled it out. The subsequent beep signified a correct identification, and the ashy blonde opened the door and entered the room.

Just like the lobby, the master suite bedroom possessed a greatly luxurious appearance. The generous use of fine drapery fabrics in pale ice blue, taupe, steel blue and a soft silver gray gives this room an extravagant but calming look. The wall farthest from the door was a large window, providing a great view of the Retiro Park near the hotel. Two queen-sized beds were positioned parallel to each other with a wooden nightstand and wall lamp between them.

Maka looked around the room in astonishment, "Oooooh my goodness! This is...wow." she commented speechlessly. Caius walked in behind her and spared a few glances of the room and found himself quickly disinterested. The scythe meister walked over to the wooden desk beside the television set and sat the bag down, sighing felicitously as she took off her black coat. "This is more like it. Studying in the quiet and comfortable room."

"Yes," Caius agreed as he undid the strap-buckles of his coat and slid it off, "Peace and solace."

Maka sat in the black, leather business chair at the desk and started taking out of the books and notes. Caius got a wooden chair also provided by the room and situated himself by the scythe meister, "Alright, what shall we start with?"

"Let's start with the study of Soul Resonance." Maka replied, opening the book up to the desired chapter. Caius nodded and looked as well, reciting the most fundamental theory in Phasmology with Maka.

"A sound soul dwells within a soul mind and a soul body."

* * *

_Month 1, Week 1, Day 3_

The sky was turning blue over Madrid, signaling that the sun was slowly coming over the horizon. Dusk was giving way to dawn, and people were already starting their day in the ever-busy Spanish city. However, many people were still asleep on the grounds that it was too early in morning.

Like Maka and Soul, even though they had something important to do.

Soul was sprawled amongst his bed with his covers and pillows all over it, snoring loudly and obnoxiously. Caius, in the meantime, was in the bathroom getting ready for the scheduled departure, "Soul, wake up! We gotta leave!" he called out, but his only response was even louder snores.

Meanwhile, in the girl's master room, Claudia—who was already up and ready to go—positioned a megaphone near Maka's head and turned it on, "WAKE UP, MAKA!"

"AHH!" Maka screamed suddenly, jumping and falling off the bed, "OOF!" After gathering her bearings, she shot up and glared at Claudia vehemently and angrily, "CLAUDIA, WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Maka, we have to get up and catch our flight before we are late for school." Claudia reasoned.

The scythe meister groaned, "Oh, alright." She walked off to the bathroom, mumbling as she began getting ready.

Back in the boy's master room, Soul had still failed to be awakened from his heavy sleep. So, unfortunately, Caius had to resort to drastic measures. Walking over to the Frigidaire, he opened up the freezer portion and scooped up some ice and closed it after filling it up. "Last chance, Soul." Caius said. When the Demon Scythe continued to snore, the lance meister took the scoop of ice and poured it down Soul's pants.

"AHH!" Soul jumped from the overwhelmingly icy sensation invading his pants, falling onto the floor hard as he dug out the ice cubes. He shot up from the floor and glared heatedly, "CAIUS, WHAT THE HELL?!"

"We have to catch our flight so we won't be late for school. You can sleep on the way." Caius rationalized.

Soul sighed, "Yeah, yeah…I'm coming."

Due to the repeated urging from Caius and Claudia, Maka and Soul were able to get ready within a reasonable amount of time. The four checked themselves out of the hotel and were escorted to the airport by carriage. Once there, the carriage stopped near the private jet, and the footmen came out, walked over to the door, and opened it.

"Hurry, everyone! We need to go!" Claudia exhorted as she got out of the carriage and hurried to the jet.

"Okay! Okay!" Maka said as she and the others came out and followed the young rich girl.

Everyone boarded the private jet and waited until the pilots were clear for takeoff. The plane's engines whirred powerfully as the engine powered up and turned to face the takeoff lane. Within the minutes, the jet finally took off and was quickly heading to its destination of the Death City, Nevada.

A few hours later, after all of them got some more shuteye, Claudia finished getting a call from the pilots on her cell phone. "Okay!" she orated, getting everyone's attention, "I may have some bad news. By the time we arrive at the airport and get to the Academy, we will be twenty minutes late."

"Oh, no!" Maka exclaimed, already dreading the consequences for coming into Professor Stein's class late. Caius blanched, not keen to the idea of being late and compromising his perfect attendance record this way. Soul, conversely, maintained a disinterested and rather uncaring disposition to the announcement.

"HOWEVER!" Claudia suddenly articulated, "There is hope! It will be dangerous and someone may get hurt. But we have to do this in style."

"…Eh?" Maka squeaked, confused.

"…Style?" Soul shared his meister's incredulity.

"Mhm!" Claudia clapped her hands together twice, summoning someone, "Oh, Kevin!"

Coming seemingly out of nowhere was a navy-haired man wearing a skydiving suit. "Hello everyone!"

Maka immediately got the idea, and her green eyes bulged out in horror, "Y-You don't mean…" she whimpered.

"Yes. We are going to skydive and land at our school!" Claudia proclaimed ardently.

"I got everything figured out so hopefully you don't die!" Kevin added in, blissfully unaware of how unsettling his statement sounded.

Soul's interest went through the roof. He always wanted to skydive because he heard stories about how exhilarating it was. "Skydiving? Alright, count me in!" Soul said excitedly, grinning wide enough to show his sharp teeth.

On the contrary, for Caius, skydiving was one of the things not on his to-do list. Quite frankly, the idea made him scared for his life. "...You know what. I think I'll just take the tardy." He said resignedly.

"Aw don't be like that, buddy!" Kevin reassured, smiling widely, "It's perfectly safe as long as you follow instructions. Besides, it will totally be radical!"

"Uhh...I dunno about this." Maka said hesitantly.

"What are you afraid of, Albarn?" Claudia questioned slyly, glancing at the scythe meister in a mockingly curious manner.

"DYING!" Maka shouted, being realistic about the situation.

"Oh pft!" Claudia rolled her eyes, waving dismissively at her, "You'll live."

"This ought to be fun. Something new to try out." Soul said optimistically, grinning enthusiastically.

"Alright, everyone. Suit up!" Kevin shouted, throwing a fist into the air blithely, earning excited exclamations from Soul and Claudia but nervous groans from Caius and Maka.

By the time the private jet was approaching Death City, with the DWMA in sight, the gang had suited up in their skydiving suits as well as receiving the necessary skydiving equipment. Claudia was ready to go, Soul kept his cool demeanor and awaited further instructions, Maka was extremely nervous to the point her knees began to shake, and Caius—while also nervous—was doing a considerably better job at concealing it as he too waited for further instructions.

"Okay, listen up!" Kevin spoke up as he held up a parachute bag, gesturing to each part of it as he talked, "Like I have explained, this handle will pull out the parachute, and you will levitate down. When it seems jammed, do not worry. Give it a sec and pull it again. If it's not working for some reason, make sure you are close to another person and ride with them." He then walked over to the emergency door, "We are over six thousand feet above the Academy. Pull it before you hit eight hundred feet. If you deploy your parachute at or after you reach eight hundred feet, you will likely crash and hurt yourself. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" The DWMA students all replied in unison.

"Alright," Kevin proceeded to open the emergency door, the surge of rushing winds howling as the hatch was opened. The private jet was high in the sky, and it was positioning itself above the Academy so that the students would land in the open space in front of the school entrance. The quarter walked over and mentally prepared themselves for this perilous task. "Have fun and have a great day in school! When I say 'go,' jump." Kevin held up one finger to act as a sort of timer, "One—"

"GO!" Cruelly, Claudia pushed Maka off while she was most unprepared. Maka fell forward and off the plane, screaming her head off as nerves nearly jumped out of her skin. The Moncharmin girl laughed, entertained by her own action.

"M-MISS MAKA!" Caius shouted concernedly, shocked and frightened by what just happened.

"Hey, I was supposed to go first!" Soul yelled overzealously and jumped off in pursuit of his meister.

"Let's go!" Claudia suddenly grabbed Caius's hand and leaped off. Caius's eyes widened as he was forced to jump off with his weapon partner and immediately started fearing the worst.

The quartet dove from the sky, the rushing wind howling powerfully as they plummeted. They even passed through a small cloud or two as they fell. The ground—or rather, the Academy—was getting bigger and bigger they as continued to dive, attesting to the great speeds at which they were skydiving. For Claudia and Soul, the experience was thrilling and invigorating. Conversely, Caius and Maka were not particularly enjoying themselves.

As Maka screamed fearfully and flailed her arms and legs uncontrollably, Soul performed a few freestyle tricks as he fell through the sky, "Now _this_ is how you start a morning before boring school! I'm totally awake now!" He grinned over to his companions and surveyed, "How are you guys feelin'?!"

"DO I _REALLY_ HAVE TO ANSWER THAT?!" Caius screamed in reply, not in the mood to be asked such a question.

"I FEEL ALIVE!" Claudia hollered euphorically, loving the feeling of the high winds against her face.

"I'M GONNA DIE!" Maka cried out pessimistically.

"Maka, would you relax?!" Claudia said irritably, "Enjoy the moment. Just make sure you pull the tag before you hit eight hundred feet."

"O-OK!"

Meanwhile, back on the ground, the usual morning crowd was beginning to enter the Academy and fill the hallways before class officially started. Walking up to the school after completing the large flights of stairs were Liz and Patty, who were behind Kid.

The younger Thompson sister looked up to check on the sky appeared and perceived figures in the sky falling. "Oooh! Falling people!" Patty exclaimed childishly, amused by the display.

"Patty, did you forget to take your meds again?" Liz questioned, registering that as simply another one of her younger sister's flighty, out-of-the-blue statements. Kid ignored them as he continued to walk forward.

"Okay, annnnd…" Soul grabbed the tag to his parachute and timed himself precisely, pulling it. The parachute deployed and expanded, immediately stopping Soul's momentum as he was jerked upward, "WHOO! Got it!"

"Aaaaaaand, now!" Claudia pulled on her tag and the parachute popped open, "Yay! That was fun!"

"Ngh…I need to…" Maka reached and grabbed her tag and pulled it but, unfortunately, nothing happened. Her eyes widened in horror as she continually attempted to deploy her parachute to no avail, "OH NO! I CAN'T GET IT OPEN!" She screamed in dismay.

Claudia saw Maka continuing to plummet and yelled loud enough so that she could hear, "Remember what Kevin said! Wait a minute an—"

"I DON'T HAVE A MINUTE!" Maka hollered hysterically as she continued pulling the tag only for the parachute to not activate like it was supposed to.

Caius was also about to pull his tag, believing he had waited long enough, but then saw Maka struggling to get hers to deploy. "M-Miss Maka! Give it a min—" He noticed the scythe meister was not paying attention and persisted in her futile attempts, "Oh great." He sighed exasperatedly and began to maneuver himself toward her.

Patty continued to look up at the sky, curious as to see why people were falling from the ground, and was able to identify the figure falling the fastest. "...I think it's Maka falling." The blond girl announced.

Liz turned around and questioned incredulously, "What are you talking about, Patty?"

Patty pointed up to the sky, "See? Look!"

Against his better judgment, Kid ceased walking, turned around, and looked up at the same time as Liz, specifically where Patty pointed. The Shinigami's eyes widened to see Maka heading full-speed downward, "What the devil?!"

"Oh my god!" Liz exclaimed, horrified.

As Maka tried her hardest to get it open, Caius managed to reach her, hook his arm around her waist, and deploy his parachute. "You really should work on your patience." He criticized as the parachute jerked them upward, negating all the downward momentum produced from their fall.

Maka felt embarrassed, "Thanks…" She thanked in a mortified tone. Her features became cross as she snarled threateningly, "When we land, I am so kicking your weapon's ass."

Soul saw from his higher standpoint that Caius had rescued his meister and successfully deployed his parachute and sighed in relief. "They made it!" Claudia exclaimed happily. However, her cheery mood completely disappeared when she suddenly had the feeling that her life, or at least her wellbeing, was in danger.

"Yay! She's saved!" Patty declared, clapping her hands jovially as if she was applauding the work of a movie.

Liz's blue eyes were focused on the person that saved Maka, "But who is that guy? I have never seen him before."

Kid squinted his eyes to get a better view, "Hmmm. Never seen him before either."

The younger Thompson suddenly had a thought that made her grin mischievously, "Maybe it's her boyfriend~"

"Ooo~" Liz purred playfully. To her, that would explain why Maka seemed to be at ease with herself recently.

Caius eventually landed with Maka, letting her go when they were securely on the ground. "And we're here." He announced, relieved, as he detached the parachute and took off his skydiving suit. Maka followed suit, removing her defunct parachute bag and slipping out of the suit itself.

"Nice of you to drop in, Maka." Kid quipped, maintaining his usual tone of voice as he approached the two with the Thompson Sisters by him.

Maka looked at the Son of Death and replied, "Oh hey, Kid. How are you?"

"You tell us?" Liz responded, looking at Caius curiously.

"Just a…" Kid said, shoving his hands into his pockets as he eyed Caius, "regular morning, that's all."

"So who's this~?" Patty inquired melodiously, gazing at the bespectacled teenager.

Caius felt uncomfortable with the prying attention he was getting. Nonetheless, he answered back with a somewhat shaky voice, "U-U-Uh, I'm Caius Vlandingham."

"Hnnn." The Thompson Sisters grinned, examining the male meister. He appeared to be someone that Maka would pick. Plus, he had his own, general redeeming qualities. "Are you Maka's boyfriend?" Patty asked innocently, "If so, you look better with her than Soul."

"WH-WHAT?!" Maka sputtered in surprise. Well, it wasn't the first time she was asked that type of question, but usually Soul was the guy in question. "Patty, don't be silly! He's my friend!"

Caius flustered a bit too. It had been awhile since he was bombarded with such an implication. In the first year he knew Claudia, many of the rich entrepreneurs he encountered when with the Moncharmins thought he and Claudia were dating before they learned he was her meister and nothing more. "Y-Yeah, just a fr-..." Caius refused to acknowledge Maka as a friend. She could say what she wanted to, "Yeah…"

"I-In fact, he's Claudia's meister!" Maka continued to defend herself.

Liz blinked incredulously, "Are you serious? You mean the rich brat?"

"I HEARD THAT!" Claudia shouted, finally landing on the ground and glaring at them in an insulted manner, "Honestly, you guys are so mean!"

Kid gave Claudia a sustained, keeping his usual expression, "The Moncharmin princess finally got a partner?"

"I said the same thing!" Soul remarked as he landed and began removing his skydiving equipment and suit, "But apparently Caius has been here a long time."

Caius saw the Shinigami eye at him again, raising an eyebrow. "He isn't lying." The bespectacled meister said coolly but honestly.

"What is the matter of you people?!" Claudia groused in exasperation, "You guys act like he just came out of nowhere when he's been attending this school with me for quite awhile!"

"Huh. Never noticed him." Liz admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

"Me either," Patty said, approaching Caius and poking him in the chest, "Is he a ghost?"

"No, you imbecile! He's real person like you and me!" Claudia retorted tetchily.

Caius sighed inaudibly, caressing his left temple as if being around these many people and their different personalities were starting to give him a headache. "Can we just go to class now?"

* * *

Stein was walking down a hallway in the upper echelons of the DWMA, looking around carefully. "Alright, he should be…" The scientific genius spotted a large, bidirectional door. Near one of the corners to the room was a typical classroom sign: the title 'Correctional Class' engraved on a wooden palette in golden, elaborate cursive.

"Ah, here." Stein stopped in front of the door and knocked, rapping his knuckles against the surface loud enough to catch the attention of whoever was inside.

"Mr. Ricardsen is back! Get to your seats!"

On the other side of the door, loud, almost panic-stricken rustling and scrambling was audibly discernible. Stein kept a neutral expression, recognizing such hurried shuffling as the movements of students misbehaving and trying to keep face when they knew authority was around. The legendary meister cranked his bolt counterclockwise, guessing that the person he was looking for was not in his classroom just yet. But, Stein decided to head in anyway, opening the door and walking in.

The Correctional Class appeared similar to the classrooms seen all around the DWMA, resembling large and spacious lecture halls with pitched floors and conjoined desks. The color schemed differed from his own the many of the other classrooms, Stein noted, harboring a combination of cool grey and dark white colors. But what truly separated this particular classroom from the others was that it was devoid of the self-respecting and diligent students the DWMA was known for. The Correctional Class was full of the degenerates, roughnecks, and juveniles that infected the school, giving the impression this was a detention facility classroom.

"…That's not Mr. Ricardsen! That's Professor Stein!" A male Correctional Class student pointed out.

Stein's glasses glinted malignantly as he locked onto the male student, who cowered instantly, "Your point?" The rest of the class remained mute. They knew full well the destructive caliber of the DWMA's best known meister. Sighing, Stein spoke up once again, "Where's Noel? I need to speak with him."

Just then, the other set of bidirectional doors on the opposite wall flew open with a deafening slam.

Standing in the doorway was a man with black, chin-length hair with many orange streaks, mostly located on his draping bangs. They almost completely covered the left side of his face with the right-side bangs having the same length but weren't as plentiful in order to keep his dark auburn, pupil-less right eye and most of the right side of his face visible. He wore a black, leather blazer with internal pockets and an upturned collar. The blazer was unzipped to reveal a dark orange shirt underneath. He finished his ensemble with black pants and shoes.

"Welcome back, Mr. Ricardsen!" The Correctional Class students shouted in unison, straightening in their seats almost instantly.

"Hmph." Noel noticed Stein standing across from him and spoke with a dry, detached voice, "Oh. Franken. This is unexpected."

"I need to speak with you for a second." Stein simply requested.

Noel nodded slowly, "If you insist." He turned his class and said, "As you can see, I'm stepping out once more. This room better look the way it does now, and I better not hear anything, or you all will suffer the consequences." Never during these demands did Noel's face or voice alter; however, the icy look in his visible eye as well as the stern calmness radiating from his voice were enough to make even the reprobates and miscreants before him nod fearfully in unison. Noel's outward demeanor exhibited that much authority and stoicism.  
That understood, Noel walked out with Stein and closed the door behind them. "So what do you want, Stein?" the stoic man questioned, eyeing the professor unblinkingly, "I _was_ in the middle of class."

Stein put his hands into his lab coat pockets and replied, "Simple. I need you. You know how to build teamwork morale, don't you? You and you late wife were good at that in the Academy."

Noel exhaled slowly before speaking again, "Stein, do you know how long it has been since I last taught something like that? Not to mention, it was the NOT class." He looked off to the side, "I'm just the dean of students and school disciplinarian now."

"Once you got it, you got it." Stein reasoned.

Noel could not argue with that. The DWMA's disciplinarian sighed dryly, "If you say so. What, something wrong with your class?"

"Nothing really," Stein answered, "I just feel everyone should get to know each other more closely as students of the DWMA. Besides, I don't want them just studying for my test. Give them something to do."

"So in other words…" Noel narrowed his visible eye slightly, "You want me to teach them about Joint Resonance?"

Stein's eyeglasses glinted as his gaze focused seriously on Noel, "That's correct."

Noel shrugged his shoulders, "All right. As long as you can find someone to look after my class while we do this, I'll bite." He stretched his arms, keeping a tight grip on the folder in his right hand as he did, "Just give me a moment. I might be in your class late."

"That's all I ask." Stein then noticed the older in Noel's hand and inquired in an amused tone, "Getting paperwork out of the way? A bit too early if you ask me."

"Not exactly," Noel replied, gesturing to it, "Student application forms. My two kids will be attending the DWMA soon if Lord Death approves them. I'm really just waiting on their performance and physical fitness prerequisites."

Stein removed one of his hands from his pocket and turned the screw in his head, "Oh, yes. There are two ways in which students can enroll into the DWMA. By orientation, in which a mass of new students can admit simultaneously but are placed in classes based only on their initial credentials. Or by recommendation from a current faculty member, which requires the student to do prerequisite missions and/or exams and meet minimum standards in order to be admitted. In exchange, if successful, they seem to get first picks and head starts on things students admitted by orientation don't get for awhile."

"Aren't you an encyclopedia?" Noel commented sarcastically and then said, "But, yes. My children and their weapon partners are on their prerequisite mission now."

"Well, I'm going to find your replacement and head to my class," Stein announced, walking off, "Don't take long."

"I'll try." Noel replied, turning his back to Noel but did not head into his classroom yet. An ominous thought crossed his mind, _"He wants his class to learn Joint Resonance…does Stein think the activity out there might change soon?"_

**Author**** Notes**

A quick update if I do say so myself. What I would like to know is were the altitudes mentioned in the skydiving portion reasonable? If not, someone please leave a comment and let me know. Inform me of what altitudes are realistic so I can edit, for I have no knowledge of skydiving at all. I was simply using my common sense.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Soul Eater is copyrighted to Atsushi Okubo and all other third parties (characters, series, and concepts). As of this chapter, material owned by me is Caius Vlandingham, the Gemini, and Noel Ricardsen; and HopeDiamond101 of DeviantArt owns Claudia Moncharmin.

**Joint Resonance: Teamwork Yields Ultimate Power?**

"Master J. Worski, we've got the goods."

In a dark alley somewhere in the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan area, several shady individuals tossed a few burlap sacks to the ground. The impact caused the bags to open up slight, revealing their contents to be nothing but pure souls and stacks of cash. Standing above the bags with a pleased but sinister smile was a clean-cut, middle-aged man with smooth, wavy brown lacks and dilated black eyes with black rings around them.

J. Worski knelt down and picked up a soul from one of the burlap sacks and tossed it into his mouth, smirking in delight after swallowing it. "Perfect. Nothing like getting some money and eating some souls." He said menacingly. His partners-in-crime all snickered evilly, taking off their ski masks to reveal their almost inhuman dispositions.

However, as the criminals celebrated in the success of their wretched moonlighting activity, a group of figures were watching them atop a rooftop faraway.

"J. Worski and the Flatheads." A fifteen-year-old male commented, smirking alacritously. He possessed jaw-length, ink black hair with bangs and chartreuse-colored eyes. His consisted of an unzipped, collarless black blazer, a white, collared, thinner polo shirt underneath it, and black, biker trousers with black shoes.

"Look at those suckers. Don't even know we got 'em." A fifteen-year-old female snickered, mimicking the boy's smirk. She bore messy, orange, chin-length hair kept in a bun along with sunshine yellow eyes. Her outfit comprised of a zipped, V-neck black blazer with elbow-length sleeves, a white halterneck shirt beneath underneath, white short shorts, and white ankle boots, and white gloves with grey buckles.

"Careful now, Tsuji, Rowena, we haven't completed the mission until they're all good and dead." A seventeen-year-old, dark-skinned male rationalized, rolling the lollipop in his mouth around before he had spoken. He sported slate blue eyes and spiky, dark brown hair with a russet tint swept downward. His outfit consisted of a black, stomach-length jacket with a dark brown muscle shirt underneath it, baggy dark brown cargo pants fastened by a black belt, and black army boots. "Don't forget that." He finished his statement, shoving his hands into his pockets as his posture slouched in a laidback manner.

"No worries. We got this!" A fourteen-year-old, youthful girl giggled confidently. Her facial features included large, magenta eyes and electric violet hair woven two hair loops by golden balls with the remainder falling to her shoulders. Her clothing comprised of a purple kimono-like shirt with long sleeves—her hands went unseen until she raised her arms and waved them around as she spoke, baggy white pants fastened to her waist by a purple string, and a pink scarf.

"Nayumi's right, Marcellus," Tsuji said confidently, turning the oldest member of the group and grinning, "So, chill out." Marcellus only sighed as he crunched down on his lollipop and spat out the naked stick, subsequently reaching into his jacket and retrieving another.

"Alright, bro, you know the game plan," Rowena stated as she turned to Tsuji, "You do your thing up here, and I'll do my thing down there, but don't hesitate to move your ass when it looks I need help. Got it?"

"Crystal, sis. Ya ain't got nothing to worry about!" Tsuji replied, smirking cockily.

Rowena smirked back, nodding, "Then let's roll! Nayumi, transform!"

"Marcellus, Default Form."

With that said, Nayumi's and Marcellus's bodies suddenly glowed as they dematerialized into weightless light. Nayumi shot up into the sky while Marcellus slipped into Tsuji's right hand, beginning transformation.

As Nayumi shot back downward, her form turned into something long and stabbed into the ground, cracking it. Then, the upper portion of her form increased in width and size. When Rowena gripped the slender portion, the light around Nayumi's new form shattered, revealing her to be a giant tomahawk. The long shaft of the weapon was dark purple and black. The hammerhead of the tomahawk featured a silver, coned, pointed, blunt end with the back being bar-like, flat, and colored purple and black.

Marcellus slowly solidified as well, and Tsuji tightened his grip, throwing that arm out to the side, shattering the light. Marcellus had took the form a mechanical bow. The limbs were dark blue and perfectly curved. In the very middle of the curve was half of a dark green crystal ball. The band around the crystal ball featured a frontal opening and connected to a modified arrow rest in the back. Lastly, several strings connected equidistantly to the internal parts of the limbs met at a pullback clip.

"Don't blow your cover." Rowena cautioned, lifting up the seemingly heavy tomahawk with only one hand and leaping off the side of the building, using the streetpole to help ease her fall.

"I'll be too busy gettin' headshots to care." Tsuji said, grinning as he hooked two fingers on the pullback clip as he aimed and pulled back. A chartreuse arrow of compressed soul wavelength was produced on the arrow rest as the black-haired meister took careful aim. "Ready and…" He released, shooting the arrow through the frontal opening as it surged through the air at high speeds. The head of one of the Flatheads was struck and immediately exploded, with the body suffering the same fate and leaving behind a Kishin Egg Soul. "Dead." Tsuji announced arrogantly, pulling back again to generate another arrow.

"What the-?! We've been made, guys!" A Flathead gang member exclaimed fearfully as he and two other members headed toward the bags. However, before they even touched their goods, they were slammed forcefully into the nearby dumpster, resulting in the metal trash container flattening like an accordion. Imbedded into the human-shaped imprints were a trio of Kishin Egg Souls.

"Damn right." Rowena replied casually as she lifted up the tomahawk and rested it across her shoulders, evidently having swung it.

J. Worski growled vehemently, glaring hatefully at the female meister, "The DWMA!" The evil human jumped in surprise as he heard shots echo through the alley. He turned around and saw chartreuse arrows piercing through the skulls of more of his men, yielding their deaths and Kishin Egg Souls in their wake. All of his men were now dead, totaling the number of Kishin Egg Souls floating around at nine.

The criminal's eyes widened in horror. The Flatheads had been able to run around and conduct business without setbacks before. Now, all of a sudden, they were being gunned down like wild animals in a hunt."What the hell?! How is this—?!"

"MEET THE GROUND!" Rowena suddenly shouted after raising the tomahawk and slamming it down on J. Worski. The pressure immediately caused environmental damage, leaving J. Worski in a crater as fissures snaked across the area. "Did it say hi back?" The orange-haired female smirked humorously as she lifted the tomahawk.

Tsuji landed beside and admired his twin sister's work, "Damn, Rowena. Flattened him!" He commented, chuckling.

Rowena chuckled as well, "Actually, I held back because I wanted to see his head get blown off."

Tsuji smirked dangerously, "Well then. Can't keep my sis waitin', right?" He trudged over to J. Worski and forcefully flipped the half-dead evil human over. The criminal cried out in agony since Tsuji precariously moved him with no heed to the severe damages to his body. Tsuji squatted down and aimed an arrow at J. Worski's head.

"J. Worski and the Flatheads, a group of bank robbers and human soul hunters pervading the Detroit, Michigan area." Marcellus explained as his reflection appeared on the crystal ball of his Default Form.

"Not anymore!" Nayumi exclaimed giddily, her image appearing on the hammerhead of the tomahawk.

"Your punk ass has been duckin' and dodgin' the DWMA for the longest, ." Rowena said as she walked up beside her brother, looking down on the heavily injured evil human and resting the tomahawk on its hammerhead on the ground.

"Do you feel lucky, punk?" Tsuji asked viciously as he squatted down further, pressing the bow against J. Worski's forehead, "You're about to get killed by the Ricardsens with our weapons, the Ardsens. Remember them names!"

J. Worski soon learned that an arrow could be just as deadly as a gun.

* * *

"DO NOT START CLASS, FOR WE ARE HERE!"

The class and Professor Stein stared awkwardly at Claudia, who had overenthusiastically burst into the classroom and pointed a finger in the air.

"…Um, Claudia?" Tsubaki spoke demurely, "Class hasn't even started."

Claudia looked at the Demon Shadow Weapon incredulously, "Huh? Really?"

Tsubaki nodded with a sheepish expression on her face, "Yes. You're still on time."

Caius walked in behind Claudia with a blissfully appreciate look on his face, having heard all that, "Yes! My perfect attendance record is saved!" He proclaimed happily.

Stein continued to stare on unblinkingly and in an unimpressed manner, "…Riveting. Now go take your seat." He demanded calmly. Caius and Claudia regained themselves and went to their seats.

Maka walked in shortly afterwards, "Well at least we're on time." She said thankfully as she went to her seat and started preparing for seat with Soul right behind her. Kid, Liz, and Patty came in seconds after and also took their seats.

As Caius took his stuff for class, he sighed weakly and then thought in relief, _"Well, at least that won't be something I have to redo. Back to it just being me and Claudia. Or me and myself."_

"Alright, students, class is officially underway," Stein announced, standing from his seat, "Well, I hope you've already began studying for your test in less than a month. Now, normally, I would have just awarded you all with free time. But, with the help of a colleague, we are going to do something that'll further us as students and representatives of the DWMA." The majority of the class gave him inquisitive stares, and the scientist continued, "So, our topic for today is 'Teamwork.' Not only with people you know, but also people you don't know."

This was something new even for those who have been in the Crescent Moon Class for the longest. The class mumbled quizzically among each other, wondering just what the professor's intentions were. Just, there a soft knock on the door, which captured everyone's attention.

"Oh, that must be my help. It's open!" Stein called out.

The door to the class opened slowly and ominously as the students stared on. When it opened completely, Noel was standing in the doorway, stolid and imperturbably detached as usual. "Hello, class." He said dryly, his cold presence immediately permeating through the atmosphere.

And it sent the majority of the class in to quite a frenzy.

"I DON'T HAVE ANY GUM ON ME!"

"I LEFT MY MAKEUP IN MY LOCKER!"

"DON'T KILL ME. I BRUISE EASILY!"

It was common knowledge that Noel Ricardsen, the infamous detention warden and disciplinarian, appeared where any trouble in the DWMA was happening. It was his job to make sure no students acted out of line and deal swift judgment thereafter. And his methods were rather merciless. All of the slackers like Soul and Liz in the class straightened up in their seat, the exemplary students like Maka, Caius, and Tsubaki straightened in their seats even more than usually, and people like Kid and Kilik were wondering who exactly was in trouble this time.

"As all of you probably know, this is Mr. Noel Isaac Ricardsen," Stein said as Noel walked beside his desk and leaned against it with his hands in his pockets, "He took time out of his busy schedule to help me with today's lesson."

"So calm down," Noel insisted, "No one's in trouble."

"So give him your undivided attention please." Stein requested. The class relaxed just a little and gave a chance to explain his agenda in relation to them.

Now that he had the floor, Noel began to speak, "Stein has told me today's lesson is teamwork. Believe it or not, I know to help with that. These procedures will be step-by-up, day-by-day for a straight week, so keep up," the man cleared his throat before continuing, "For today, allow me to give you students something to think about. Oftentimes, we listen to what people say and do to figure who they are. But, there is actually a better way. In battle, when warriors clash, this exchange of blows, slashes, or whatever can invisibly offer much about each other. For us meisters and weapons, each time we clash with another like ourselves, inputting our soul into everything, we tell even more. If you concentrate, through a single battle, you can learn so much about the other person, it's rather overwhelming."

The class listened quietly as the Correctional Class teacher finalized his thoughts, "And that's the core of today's lesson. In teamwork, familiarity is absolutely necessary. When pairs, trios, or even groups know each other's strengths and weaknesses and back each other up, there is no obstacle insurmountable. Want a brief summary? You guys are going to fight and learn about each other through battle."

The class's reactions were varied, but it seemed excitement was the general response. People like Blackstar and Patty were shouting how exuberant they were, people like Kid and Maka expressed indifference toward the matter, and there a few with dismayed expressions, not wanting to participate in this, such as Liz and Caius.

Stein cleared his throat to caught their attention and explained, "Before we converged, I took the attendance list and randomized it to make teams I found the unlikeliest to pair up will be fighting each other. It may not be the best, but they are as general as they can be."

He took a look at the clipboard on his desk that had the student battles listed. As the scientist did that, Noel spoke up again, "Before that, I want to remind you all. We're not trying to beat the tar out of each other. We're here to learn. So, I expect just straightforward combat. No Soul Resonances, special techniques, none of that because that is not the objective."

"Now listen up," Stein articulated, "Kid, Caius, and your partners. You're first up, so let's go."

"Yay!" Patty exclaimed happily, pointing at their opponents, "You're going down!"

Caius sighed exasperatedly, "Perfect…"

"Patty, this isn't a win-or-lose thing. We're learning." Kid admonished, standing up with the older Thompson Sister.

"Hey! Don't be like that, Caius! We can do this!" Claudia encouraged her disinterested meister partner as she stood up.

_"…It's not that, Claudia. They don't _need_ to know anything about me."_ Caius thought antisocially as he sighed and stood up. Claudia led the way to the front as Caius followed, meeting Kid and his partners down there.

Noel spoke after the students got into position, "Everyone will be fighting for a straight minute. At the end, both fighters are to evaluate each other based on what they gathered through their exchange. Your grade depends on how accurate your intel is. Remember, you're here to learn not kill each other."

"Understood." Kid replied simply.

"Yes, sir." Caius responded genteelly.

"Right." The Thompson Sisters and Claudia all said in unison.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Noel said questioningly as he crossed his arms, "Begin."

Liz, Patty, and Claudia all transformed into their respective weapon forms and appeared in their corresponding meister's hands. Kid held the twin pistols up, wielding them upside down so that his trigger fingers were his pinkies. "Come." He said challengingly.

Caius adjusted his glasses, spinning the lance intricately, before charging at the Son of Death. Kid retaliated by pulling triggers to his guns once, firing a single round of pinkish energy. The bespectacled meister noticed this and quickly ducked underneath the shots, _"A shot of concentrated soul wavelength."_ He thought analytically, practically feeling the soul energy that emanated from them. After that, Kid proceeded to fire several more rounds at Caius. The Air Force-blue haired teen started using the lance to parry the blasts. "Ngh!" He grunted, finding himself having to back up gain enough leeway to lessen the impact recoil.

"Make sure to concentrate on what each blow is telling you. That's where your main focus should be." Noel stated instructively to the students, watching the two fight along with Stein.

Meanwhile, Kid continued his assault, still shooting at Caius. As a Shinigami, he was performing his given task. _"...He's holding back."_ Kid thought, narrowing his golden eyes as his opponent continued to reflexively block the gunshots with his lance, _"He has something he's desperately trying to hide from me..."_ With that in mind, Kid suddenly ceased firing. He needed some movement on Caius's part in order to make up for his supposed lack of participation.

Caius narrowed his eyes carefully as he thought, _"He stopped? There must be a reason for that."_ Unable to deduce what said reason was, he nonetheless charged at Kid. When he was close enough, Caius swung the lance. However, Kid easily blocked it with his right-hand pistol, something that amazed Caius. _"Those pistols are durable enough to block my lance."_ The bespectacled meister then noticed the reaper aiming his free, left-hand gun. Reacting immediately, Caius put all of his weight on the lance, and by extension the gun, and managed to quickly flip over Kid and the gunshot.

That impressed Kid. Very few people exhibited remarkable enough reflexes to evade a point-blank gunshot. Nevertheless, Mr. Ricardsen had not called time yet, so the fight needed to continue. The monochromatic-haired meister swiftly pivoted around as Caius used the lance to skid back and fired more rounds at him. The blue-haired meister blocked the gunshots with the lance as he charged at Kid, then he performed a high front-flipped over more and attempted to slam the lance down on the Shinigami. However, Kid simply blocked it with both pistols. _"...Guy's pretty sharp. He knows which moves and tactics to employ to keep whatever he wants hidden. Doesn't seem like I'll be getting much of anything else."_ Kid thought in a resigning manner.

Maka seemed to notice Caius's subtle but odd behavior as well, _" Hmm. That's strange. It's like Caius is hiding something from Kid. But why?"_

Caius landed on his feet and backed away only to try and attempt a roundhouse kick. Kid reacted by raising his arm to block the kick, aiming his pistol with the other. Realizing he was caught, Caius could do nothing but hold up the lance as Kid pulled the trigger. Even though the lance took the brunt of the gunshot, Caius still skidded back a significant distance as smoke emanated from the blast point. He knelt down as he panted heavily, sweat dripping down his face. Kid, on the other hand, stood tall and proud, not having broken even one sweat throughout the entire exchange.

"And time," Noel declared, "Stop fighting."

Caius and Kid put down their guards as the former stood. Their weapon partners also reverted back to their normal human state.

"Good job, Caius!" Claudia complimented as her meister wiped his face with his sleeve after taking off his glasses.

"Aww. And we were just having so much fun!" Patty complained childishly.

"Well? What did you find out?" Noel inquired, wanting to hear their respective evaluations. Stein listened intently as well.

Kid looked at Caius, the gesture being meant as a sign to speak up first. The bespectacled meister noticed this but immediately avoided eye contact with him as he explained, "Kid is...a very mature and calculating guy. Worthy of being a Shinigami."

"And Kid?" Stein said, looking over to Lord Death's son.

Kid cleared his throat, "Caius is a gentle warrior. Both strategic and strong."

Noel nodded, finding the analyses satisfactory. He looked over at Stein, seeing the professor nod his approval. " Hm. Sounds to me the remarks are spot-on." The Correctional Class teacher stated, "You all may return to your seats."

"While they do that," Stein declared, "Maka and Crona, get down here."

Ragnarok suddenly materialized out of the base of Crona's back and poked the young meister repeatedly and roughly on the head. "Alright, listen here, you. You better not mess just because that broad is your friend." The inhuman Demon Weapon demanded.

"Ow!" Crona yelped, swatting away Ragnarok's hand, "That hurt, you know!" The pink-haired meister sighed sadly, standing up and going down to the front.

Claudia noticed Crona walking down the stairs, having never seen the person before. She blinked and titled her head curiously, "Who is that person?" she asked no one in particular. Caius head her, but he had nothing meaningful to say.

"Our show now, Maka." Soul mentioned as he too stood up from his seat.

Maka nodded as she made it to the front, both meisters now standing in front of one another. Crona was looking down nervously, arm being held by the other's hand. Maka noticed this gesture, it being Crona's usual sign of reluctance, and smiled reassuringly, "Hey, Crona." When the person in question looked at her, the scythe meister continued, Don't worry. Just do your best and don't hold back, okay?"

"O-Okay…" Crona replied demurely.

"Get ready." Noel declared.

Soul transformed into his scythe form as Maka grabbed it and got into a battle stance. Ragnorak receded into Crona's body and reappeared as the demon sword in the pink-haired meister's hand. Crona gripped it but stood in the same position.

"Begin."

As soon as Professor Stein gave the word, Maka charged at Crona who simply waited patiently for her. The ashy blonde swung the large weapon. Crona held up the sword to block it and pushed it away, swinging the demon sword in retaliation. Maka quickly dodged each subsequent swing from side to side, then she lifted the blade of the scythe up as it clashed with the demon sword.

_"I really don't want to fight Maka, but I have to. Oh, why me?" _Crona thought despairingly, pulling the blade back from the clash and swinging it again.

Maka jumped back, dodging, and then swung her scythe, positioning the blade around Crona's body to prevent the sword meister from moving. Understandably, Crona was surprised by the action but could not think anything else of it because the sword meister was suddenly punched very hard in the face, tumbling backwards and hitting the nearest wall.

Maka realized what she did and instantly felt sorry, "Whoops! D-Did I hit too hard?" she asked her good friend carefully.

"Get your butt up!" Ragnarok demanded, speaking through the mouth located above his sword form's hilt, "She didn't hit you _that_ hard!" Crona slowly got up, groaning and rubbing the impacted cheek to alleviate the dull pain from Maka's punch.

"Come on, Crona! Don't hold back!" Maka encouraged the pink-haired meister.

Crona managed to get back up and charged, holding the demon sword in both hands. The sword meister, once close enough, started swinging the blade rapidly. Maka dodged and blocked each and every move Crona with the scythe. Then, Crona jumped black and sliced the opposite arm with the demon sword. The wound was small; however, a substantial amount of black-colored blood leaked to the floor. "Bloody Needles."

Suddenly, the black blood solidified in the form of several sharp needles, shooting out toward Maka. Although surprised, the scythe meister reacted quickly enough to backflip out of the way and avoid certain damage.

Of course, the utilization of differently colored blood as a weapon did not go unnoticed by people who were not familiar with Crona. _"Black Blood?! Who is that?!"_ Claudia exclaimed in mind. Caius narrowed his eyes carefully, glancing at Crona. Noel also seemed perplexed, wondering how that was possible, but Stein gestured that he would explain it later to him.

"Now you're talkin', Crona!" Ragnarok howled in approval.

"I almost forgot about the Black Blood..." Soul commented as Maka landed.

"Ngh, same here." She replied. Crona then flung more blades of Black Blood toward Maka, who responded by rolling out of the way. The sword meister continued to launch more blades from the bleeding wound even after the scythe meister evaded the initial discharges. Maka continued to dodge, avoiding a good number of them, then backflipped to evade another, and finally whacked away one particularly fast blade.

Crona ceased firing Bloody Slicers and charged, dragging the sword across the surface of the floor. Maka also charged, holding the shaft of the scythe in preparation for the next attack. Both meisters swung their weapons, colliding with a loud clash.

"And time." Noel announced, "Present your evaluations."

Crona and Maka relaxed, giving each other some space. The scythe meister was the first to speak, "Crona's a bit nervous when it comes to attacking a friend, but Crona is a powerful opponent when tempted."

Crona blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Umm...a-and, Maka is very flexible and strong. And y-yeah..." The sword meister spoke nervously, unsure of what else to say.

Stein nodded his approval and stated, "Excellent. You may go take your seats now."

Soul transformed back into his human state and yawned boredly as Ragnarok's sword form dematerialized only for him to reappear out of Crona's back and position himself on his meister's hand. "Man, we were just having fun." The Demon Sword groaned unhappily.

Maka looked at them and smiled, "Good job, you two. You did really great, Crona."

"T-thanks. You weren't bad yourself." Crona replied appreciatively.

With that exchange done, the two meisters went back to their seats with their respective weapon partners. Noel checked the time and noticed that one more match was allowable. The dean of students looked at Stein and nodded. The scientist then announced, "Alright, here is our final one for today. Blackstar and Ox. Let's make it quick."

"WAH-HOO! Let's do this, Tsubaki!" Blackstar shouted, jumping to his feet and heading down the steps. Tsubaki quickly got out of her seat and followed her meister.

"Uh-oh…" Maka quietly groaned, already foreseeing the potential disaster.

"Haha! That Ox person gonna lose." Patty laughed in a demeaning manner.

_" I hope Ox wins. Because Blackstar is a jerk. Fall and hurt yourself, you stupid Blackstar!"_ Claudia thought derisively, glaring at Blackstar as he eagerly stepped to the front, laughing all the way.

"Let's make this quick." Ox Ford said, standing up with his Demon Spear partner, Harvar, and walking down to the front.

Once they were all situated, Noel spoke again, "Get set, you four."

Harvar glowed yellow, becoming a jolt of electricity that slipped into Ox's right hand, and turned into a golden spear with a lightning bolt-esque tip. "Think you have a chance against the Royal Thunder? I think not." Ox boasted, engaging in a battle stance and pointing the spear at Blackstar threateningly.

"HA!" Blackstar scoffed, pointing at the bespectacled Spear Meister scathingly, "It's _you_ who doesn't stand a chance against this great assassin!" The blue-haired boy gave himself a thumb's-up, grinning moronically as he continued, "I know I can be intimidating. I even intimidate myself. For I am the Great Assassin, Blackstar! HAHAHAHA!"

The class groaned, annoyed at Blackstar's conceitedness.

"Just begin already." Noel demanded, already developing a great dislike of the assassin's overweening pride.

"Now, Tsubaki! Chain Scythe Mode!" Blackstar ordered, ready to fight. Nodding, Tsubaki's body glowed a yellow color before transforming into two small scythes connected by chains into Blackstar's hands. "HERE WE GO! WAH-HOO!" The blue-haired meister bellowed, charging full speed at Ox.

Waiting until the Shadow Weapon Meister got close enough, Ox then jabbed the spear forward. However, Blackstar managed to sidestep the stab. "Ha! Too slow!" He taunted, leaping up and swinging one of the scythes at Ox.

Ox quickly raised the spear to block it, skidding back from the impact. Once Blackstar landed on the ground, he lunged himself forward with his fists out, turning himself into a human missile and rammed himself into Ox's stomach. The bespectacled meister went tumbling back into a wall from the impact, "OUCH!" Ox yelped.

"Ox!" Harvar exclaimed concernedly.

"I-I'm alright…" Ox groaned, rubbing his head as he stood up, charging with the spear in hand. _"If only Mr. Ricardsen allowed us to use special attacks!"_ He groused in annoyance, swinging the spear at Blackstar.

Blackstar dogged Ox's attacks and then swung the chain scythes around in retaliation, "HA! Why don't you just give up?! You know I am better than you!" He shouted smugly.

"You talk too much!" Ox retorted, clashing his spear the chain scythes.

Blackstar grinned, continuing to clash weapons with his opponent, "HA! What's the matter? Can't handle the Great Assassin?!" The blue-haired meister jumped as he threw one of the scythes, wrapping the chain around the spear and yanking it away in one tug.

"H-Hey!" Ox exclaimed. The action both shocked him and Harvar as the former was now disarmed of his means of fighting.

Blackstar charged at the weaponless and defenseless Ox, getting ready to punch him with all his might. "HERE WE GO! MY SUPER, AWESOME ATTACK! BLACK STAR PUNCH!" The assassin thrust his fist forward, hitting Ox square in the face with such force that the poor scholar was propelled immediately into the wall behind him.

Immediately, many of the immature members of the class started laughing raucously, others just simply shaking their heads or sighing exasperatedly. Harvar turned back to normal to check on the welfare of his defeated partner as Stein and Noel could only gaze at the scene with unimpressed frowns.

"Blackstar, was that necessary?!" Tsubaki chastised, her reflection appearing on the blade of the right-hand chain scythe.

"Sorry, Tsubaki, guess I forgot how awesome and strong I was!" Blackstar boasted, laughing like an idiot.

"Blackstar," Noel said pointedly, "since Ox is incapacitated at the moment, please let us hear your evaluations."

Blackstar stopped guffawing and looked at the disciplinarian with a genuinely confused expression on his face, "Huh? On what?" Even though she was still in weapon form, Tsubaki wanted to fall; just from that statement, she knew her meister did not even know the assignment.

Noel and Stein could tell that, too, but the former decided to continue on anyway, "On Ox. Summarize him based on what you gathered from your fight."

Blackstar put his arms behind his head as he leaned back a bit, thinking of something right on the spot, "Uhh...he's a nerd and a weirdo with a weird hairstyle?"

Noel did not say anything more, for he felt Blackstar's halfhearted response was enough indication to how he performed in the assignment, with Stein writing something down. Tsubaki turned back to normal, possessing a rather embarrassed expression on her usually serene face.

_Ding. Dong. Dong. Ding._

"Have a nice day, class." Stein said after the school bell finished ringing.

"We'll resume the next part tomorrow. So be prepared." Noel cautioned. With that said, the Crescent Moon Class started gathering their stuff and leaving for their next period.

Maka finished collecting her books and supplies when Crona walked over, "U-Um, Maka?"

The scythe meister looked over at Crona and replied, "Oh hey, Crona. What's up?"

Crona looked down, obviously feeling nervous, " Umm...w-well...I was wondering..." The pink-haired meister gulped at this point with Maka noticing the trademark death grip Crona kept on the arm in situations like this, "i-if it's okay if I could study with you. You know? For...the test coming up?"

Maka smiled, replying, "Oh, sure! That's no problem, Crona. In fact, we should have a study group."

Soul, who was ready and patiently waiting for the two meisters to finishing conversing, spoke up inquisitively at the mention of a study group, "You sure about that?"

Ragnarok appeared out of Crona's body and rested on his meister's head, "As long as there's food, I don't care."

Kid walked down the stairway and approached group, having overheard their conversation. "If there is no trouble, I would like to participate as well, seeing as there are no missions for today." He said, speaking his usual refined tone.

"Aww, but I wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese's!" Patty whined childishly behind him as Liz stayed quiet, checking her nails.

"Sure!" Maka replied happily. She then looked beyond her friends and noticed Caius and Claudia preparing to leave. She decided to extend her invitation to even them, seeing as they performed so well against the Gemini. "Hey Caius! Claudia!"

"Eh?" Claudia looked over to the scythe meister and questioned her, "What do you want, Albarn?"

"This may sound weird coming from me," Maka said cautiously, aware of the fact that she did not know Caius and Claudia as well as her current circle of friends, "but...would you two like to join us for a study group?"

Claudia blinked in surprise, a bit overwhelmed by the offer. Caius, on the other hand, was quick to respond, albeit nervously, "A-A study group? I don't know…"  
"Come on." The ashy blonde responded in persuasive manner, "It will be fun. Plus, it's easier to learn stuff if we teach it to each other. So what do you say?"

Claudia seriously though about the proposition as Caius contemplated ways of politely declining. Midway through, however, Blackstar suddenly jumped on Maka's desk while shouting loudly, "In that case, I'm coming too! We can train later! You little ones will need a big guy like me to help you! HAHAHAHA!"

The Demon Lance frowned, instantly putting a stop to considering the offer, "In that case, we'll pass. Let's go, Caius." She turned around and started walking off, Caius right beside her, to the door opposite of the group.

"Hold on!" Maka called after them, standing up from her seat, "Don't pay attention to Blackstar."

Claudia stopped, turned around, and pointed at the Star Clan member with an angry expression on her face, "If you think for a minute that I will sit in a room with that idiot, think again!" she said irritably.

"Hey!" Blackstar shouted back in an offended manner, shaking his fist at her with a similar expression.

"Hey, c'mon." Soul decided to speak up, "We're all trying to reach a common goal. It wouldn't be cool if we left out some friends."

At the mention of the word 'friends,' Caius felt that his comfort zone was being compromised. This prompted him to talk in a firmer tone, "I don't think Claudia and I will be able to make it."

"Besides, I have a cello lesson to attend." Claudia announced.

Blackstar misinterpreted her statement and questioned with a humored tone, "Oh! You guys gonna be jellos?"

"It's _cello_, you numbskull!" Claudia retorted irately.

"U-um...maybe we shouldn't pressure them. After all, they seem to be busy." Crona suggested demurely.

"That is right! We are busy!" Claudia affirmed authoritatively with an emphatic nod. Her teal eyes then looked at Crona intently, "But there is one thing I must ask you...Crona." The demon sword meister looked at her quizzically. The blonde girl walked over to Crona, leaving little to no personal space between them and straightforwardly asked, "…Are you a boy or a girl?"

"Claudia!" Caius reprimanded her before anything else was said, "Don't be so rude! Now come on!" The lance meister walked over, grabbed her, and dragged her off.

"HEY!" Claudia shouted, flailing her arms in an amusingly comedic manner as she was dragged off by her meister, "I just wanted to knoooow!"

Ragnarok laughed loudly as a sweat-drop appeared on Crona's head. Maka and Soul were rather disappointed that the two refused the offer. The others just simply shook their heads or shrugged their shoulders, dismissing everything entirely.

Blackstar, however, was still rather curious, "You know, she's right. Are you a chick or a dude?" He asked, reaching for the hem of Crona's tunic.

_MAKA CHOP!_

* * *

Once they were out and considerable distance away from the classroom, Caius stopped dragging Claudia and let her go. He bowed at her apologetically, "Sorry about that...I just wanted to get away as quick as I could."

Claudia stood up and brushed herself off before replying considerately, "I understand, Caius." She looked up to him and moved on to a more serious subject she had noticed, "But, Caius, you were holding back when we were fighting Lord Death's son and his twin weapons. Why was that?"

Caius was a little surprised, for he did not expect Claudia to be aware of that. If that was the case, he was sure Kid caught on that seconds after their duel began. But that was beside the point. The lance meister looked away as he responded demurely, "I was scared they were going to learn too much about me."

"About what exactly?" Claudia pried, "What are you so afraid of?" She remembered that her meister's interactions with the others had been minimal at best and peppered with reclusive behavior, "Maka and the others were also just inviting us to study with them. What's wrong with that?" Her expression grew somber, truly wondering why Caius continued to act this way ever since she met him, "How long have we known each other? Tell me."

Caius stared down at Claudia for a couple of seconds before briskly turning around. "I don't need any more friends. Simple as that. Now come on." He demanded firmly, downright avoiding all of her questions as he walked off.

Claudia reached out to him, wanting to say something else, but it was too late. Defeated, she sighed sadly and followed, "Oh, Caius…"

**Author**** N****otes**

FINALLY. The next chapter is up! GO ME!

Anyway, finally got a chance to move on in this Soul Eater story. But, slow updates were to be expected with school and football underway. So hope you guys like this one.

Also, it is hard using gender-neutral phrases and descriptions when using Crona. And, no, I will not use a definitive gender for him/her like most people would. I don't want to pick sides.


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